Solarex “Solar Energizer” solar panel

Solarex “Solar Energizer” solar panel

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Description (Brief)
Solar panels like this “Solar Energizer” required little maintenance and lasted for years making them a good power source for use in remote places. In the 1980s, production from offshore oil platforms surged and provided an unexpected market for solar cells. At first, oil companies used short-lived and heavy batteries to power navigation beacons on the offshore platforms. Crews regularly hauled tons of batteries to the platforms and dumped the used batteries into the ocean—an expensive activity also bad for the environment. Solar panels were expensive but not as expensive as using the batteries. Similar applications on land and at sea provided markets for solar panel producers that pushed research investment, lowered costs, and proved that solar cells were not just for use in space.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
photovoltaic panel
solar panel
date made
ca 1983
Measurements
overall: 20 in x 10 1/4 in x 1/4 in; 50.8 cm x 26.035 cm x.635 cm
ID Number
2016.0077.01
accession number
2016.0077
catalog number
2016.0077.01
Credit Line
from John Perlin
See more items in
Work and Industry: Electricity
Energy & Power
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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