The winning team (see inset) also took home the Grand Prize of $10,000 and a visit to Ascent’s world headquarters and manufacturing facility in Colorado (US). Second place was awarded to the team from University of California Berkeley, who developed a scalable system of solar panels with a unique, flexible attachment method. Third place went to the team from Texas A&M University for their development of a solar integrated beach umbrella.
The competition, which began in August, 2011, included teams from Boston University, San Diego State University, Texas A&M University, University of California Berkeley and two teams from the University of Oregon, in a competition to develop the most innovative applications for Ascent’s lightweight and flexible solar panels. The teams each developed working prototypes of their designs, which were enabled using lightweight, flexible, glass-free solar modules provided by Ascent Solar. In addition, Ascent provided financial support to the teams allowing them to fully explore the full potential of portable power.
On announcing the winners, Ascent congratulated the winners of the Innovative Design Competition and thanked all of its participants for what it described as “inspiring work in developing new applications for lightweight, flexible solar panels”.
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