As we've seen over the past year, solar energy use worldwide
continues to grow rapidly. While this is certainly a positive
trend, we face a challenge in today's energy landscape. In some
cases, geographic and economic situations make solar power
installation extremely difficult. These situations demonstrate a
great need for a new way of utilizing solar power. Consider U.S.
military combat zones. These military sites are some of the most
remote, dangerous locations in the world, and their heavy
dependence on diesel fuel makes conditions all the more
perilous. In today’s combat zones, one soldier or civilian dies
for every 24 fuel convoys, usually due to improvised explosive
devices (IED). Energy use has grown exponentially on modern day
military sites, especially in areas where military personnel are
sustaining operations in areas far from major support bases.
Road networks to remote sites are not well developed, and enemy
insurgents can easily target convoys on predictable and
constrained supply routes that a