Fabric shelters double as solar-powered billboards

Published On: February 1, 2009

FTL Solar, Austin, Texas, recently introduced PromoMods, graceful 20-by-20-foot fabric shelters that double as solar-powered billboards. “PromoMods can be deployed anywhere on earth where there is sunlight,” says Cree Crawford, FTL Solar’s vice-president of sales, marketing and business development, “and their energy storage capabilities allow the PromoMod to be used for nighttime promotions, advertising and marketing campaigns.” The PromoMod can be either purchased or leased, and early interest among clients in the product has been encouraging, says Crawford.

A spinoff company of FTL Design Engineering Studio, which designed the first tensile structure featuring thin-film solar cell technologies, FTL Solar specializes in transportable, environmentally sustainable sources of power generation and shelter. Another product, PowerMod, can power eight laptop computers or radios for six hours a day, and can be used individually or linked to other units. The company envisages PowerMod uses as diverse as parking lot canopies, disaster relief shelters and remote medical stations. Despite a stressed Wall Street and wary investors, FTL Solar has raised $15 million in start-up capital, as alternative energy technologies vie to play a greater role in the global economy. For more information about FTL Solar, visit www.ftlsolar.com.