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The wind energy market has long been considered the world’s largest market, by volume, for glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites — and increasingly, carbon fiber composites — as larger turbines and longer wind blades are developed, requiring higher performance, lighter weight materials. The outer skins of wind and tidal turbine blades generally comprise infused, GFRP laminates sandwiching foam core. Inside the blade, rib-like shear webs bonded to spar caps reinforce the structure. Spar caps are often made from GFRP or, as blade lengths lengthen, pultruded carbon fiber for additional strength.

Composite materials — with their unmatched strength-to-weight ratio, durability in extreme environments and design versatility — are at the heart of innovations in satellites, propulsion systems and lunar exploration vehicles, propelling the space economy toward a $1.8 trillion future.

Sunreef 43M Eco electric catamaran, with a composite surface of 1,700 square meters, is considered to have the world’s largest infused hull.

Part of the annual WINDPOWER conference and exhibition, CLEANPOWER will include partners in solar power and other energy industries.

A solar-energy start-up's prototype solar photovoltaic (PV) modules harnesses the benefits of injection-molded composites to solve problems often encountered in flat-roof solar-panel installations.

A new MIT-developed aircraft modeling software tool called geometric programming optimization —GPkit, for short — reportedly considers about 200 factors and physical models simultaneously, and then integrates them to create an optimal aircraft design.

Teijin composite materials will be used to reinforce on Clean2Antarctica’s Solar Voyager expedition vehicle, which also utilizes plastic waste and solar power in its trek across Antarctica.

Autonomous maritime patrol aircraft (AMPA) testing prepares the composite platform for operations in 2025, ensuring it can operate effectively over land and offshore environments to serve government and commercial needs.

The first successful flight test of the solar-powered HAPS unmanned aircraft system took place on Sept. 11, 2019 at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center.

After a 45-day trip, Firefly Aerospace’s first landing attempt landed Blue Ghost in an upright, stable configuration, followed by the start of surface operations.

2021 production to be followed by future models for autonomous, fleet and lower-cost/higher-volume markets.