[pct-l] ultralight solar cells

[hiker at godlikebuthumble.com (Hiker)]

At 10:49 PM 10/16/03, Gray wrote:
>Um, I'd be really interested in hearing where you heard about these, simply
>because the amount of fissionable materiel needed is way more than anyone
>that thruhikes would be willing to carry.

The soviets had some radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) which are 
sometimes called "nuclear batteries" though there is no fission, just heat 
from nuclear decay. They used them in some spy satellites, which caused 
some concern due to re-entry. They also used them to power lighthouses in 
the artic.

The USA used them too, but in deep space applications like Voyager, where 
solar panels wouldn't work.

Not good for backpacking. Too heavy, and too "hot" to handle.