Go Power!, a manufacturer of solar-based mobile power solutions for work truck and over-the-road fleet vehicles, unveiled its new Solar Flex solar panels to the industry for the first time at the 2014 NTEA Work Truck Show in Indianapolis. The thin, flexible, ultra-high-efficiency Solar Flex GP-FLEX series panels are the breakthrough power generation component of the industry’s first practical solar-based mobile power and battery regeneration system.

Solar Flex panels use high-efficiency monocrystalline cells to produce more power per square foot than any other flexible panel on the market. Unlike rigid solar panels, Solar Flex panels require no mounting brackets or framework, and at just three millimeters thick, the panels can be contoured to mount almost anywhere on a vehicle. The slender panels are aerodynamic and are engineered to be virtually indestructible.

The Solar Flex panels are clad in a tough, impermeable, marine-grade laminate and can be secured with fasteners through pre-cut eyelets or adhesively mounted to metal, rubber, fiberglass and plastic surfaces with parabolic bends of as much as 30 degrees. The panels are durable enough to walk on and can be affixed to horizontal body surfaces that sustain foot traffic.

A Go Power! solar work truck power system can be configured to generate a battery-charging range of 1.7 amps per hour to 100+ amps per hour. The system is comprehensive and includes: Solar Flex panels, a solar controller that prevents battery overcharging, a complete wire harness system, an EX1050 absorbed glass mat (AGM) deep-cycle battery bank, a Go Power! pure sine or modified sine inverter, and heavy-duty AC power outlets that can be strategically located throughout the truck body and in aerial equipment.

“We use traditional Go Power! inverter systems as standard equipment on a number of our mobile workshop capsules and fiberglass service bodies and have gained confidence in their system’s capabilities,” said Francois Boisvert, vice president engineering and new product development for Maranda Composite Truck Bodies. “We are looking forward to exploring a true no-idle power solution by running a pilot program using Go Power!’s new Solar Flex panels to reduce or eliminate idling.”

In addition to reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, soot accumulation and diesel particulate filter (DPF) regeneration by making no-idle mobile power a reality, the system virtually eliminates the problem of dead batteries for fleets. Today’s advanced vehicle electronics often rely on a constant flow of parasitic current to stay operational, depleting batteries whenever vehicles are not in use. The Go Power! solar work truck power system is designed to keep battery banks optimally charged at all times, so equipment is in a constant state of service readiness.

As a comparison to carbon-based systems, Go Power! encourages a fleet to view the vehicle’s battery as it would an auxiliary fuel tank. Amp usage is like fuel consumption, and in a conventional system the only way to recharge the battery is to use the vehicle’s alternator or DC chargers, which requires burning fossil fuels. The Go Power! Solar Flex system has the ability to generate up to100 amps of DC power per hour, and when combined with a Go Power! Inverter, the system can produce 1,000 watts of AC power per hour. Go Power!’s solar solution regenerates batteries without idling, without emissions, without noise and without the variable cost of fuels.

The new Solar Flex panels come in convenient 30-, 100- and 200-watt power kits and can be paired with a wide range of Go Power! inverters for a complete system. For customized mobile power solutions for work trucks, vans and utility vehicles, please contact Sean O’Connor at (866) 247-6527 ext. 8357 or visit http://gpelectric.com/fleet-contact-form.