Australian soldiers will be gearing up with uniforms and other equipments embedded with new technology. The new kits are the result of the Australian military awarding a major defense contract to the Australian National University, specifically the Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSES).

CSES picked up over $2 million in funding for developing solar energy panels for security applications. They’ll be concentrating on micro-thin and flexible panels, two qualities are key in the uses planned by the military.

Professor Andrew Blakers leads the project and thinks that solar power is ideal for the Australian military: “Defence personnel tend to spend a lot of time in the field, so it makes sense that they should tap into the abundant and renewable energy available from the sun. The technology will help defence reduce its reliance on batteries.”

Blakers, along with Dr. Klaus Webber, pioneered the SLIVER cell technology — needle-thin solar cells with low production costs and excellent efficiency — at ANU. He will be following up on those developments. Origin Energy is also using the SLIVER cell technology and is currently constructing a $20 million demonstration plant in Adelaide, about 14 hours west of CSES. CSES, along with ANU is based in Canberra. 

Photo courtesy Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems