Going Solar: From FedEx to Antarctic Researchers

In the past month alone, headlines about new solar projects featured everyone from FedEx and Safeway to defense contractor Aurora Flight Sciences and polar explorer Robert Swan.

During a recent two-week mission to the Antarctic, Swan and his team used lightweight, non-silicon-based solar cells made by G24 Innovations to power cellphones, satellite equipment and other devices. The cutting-edge cells delivered needed energy even in Antarctica's weak sunlight and bad weather.

"Levels of sunlight in Antarctica are extremely poor so it is a huge endorsement of G24i's technology that we have had a constant supply of energy," said Swan, who was the first person to walk to both poles. "It demonstrates how effective solar power can be."

In California, FedEx Freight has also discovered the power of solar. The company recently finished installing a 22,000-square-foot rooftop system that's expected to generate nearly 40 percent of its Whittier facility's electricity. A second solar FedEx facility is in the works in Fontana.

Together, FedEx says the two solar buildings will help it reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 610 metric tons per year; that's the equivalent of cutting annual gasoline consumption by 69,240 gallons.

A California-based concrete recycling company is also tapping sun power. Star Quality Concrete expects to both lower its operating costs and help the environment by installing 1,890 solar panels on the roof of its facility in San Jose. When complete, the setup will be the city's largest solar installation to date.

Farther north in California, Safeway Inc. recently converted two of its grocery stores to solar power. The installations are expected to generate about one-fifth of the annual energy needed to operate the stores. Safeway eventually plans to add solar power to 23 stores.

In the Mojave Desert, which collects enough sunshine to power the U.S. several times over, solar projects are popping up faster than desert flowers after a once-in-a-year downpour. Between California and Arizona, projects now on the drawing board could generate 2.5 gigawatts (that's 2.5 billion watts) of power for the U.S.

The largest players in the desert solar race are eSolar, which expects to generate more than 1 gigawatt of power from the sun, and Stirling Energy Systems, which has two projects in the works that could deliver up to 1.75 gigawatts of power. Other companies developing Mojave power projects include Ausra, Infinia, SolarReserve, Solel, BrightSource, SkyFuel, Abengoa Solar, FPL Energy and Acciona.

Even the U.S. military is exploring new applications for solar power. Aurora Flight Services, a Virginia-based contractor, last month unveiled its plan to develop a solar-powered UAV, or unmanned aerial vehicle, for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The UAV, which would be used for surveillance, reconnaissance and other military missions, will be designed to stay in the air for as long as five years, staying high above the clouds and able to adjust its wings to collect the maximum amount of sunlight.