Abstract
Having an exciting array of applications, the scope of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) application could be far wider one if its flight endurance can be prolonged. Solar-powered UAV, promising notable prolongation in flight endurance, is drawing increasing attention in the industries’ recent research and development. This work arose from a Bachelor’s degree capstone project at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The project aims to modify a 2-metre wingspan remote-controlled (RC) UAV available in the consumer market to be powered by a combination of solar and battery-stored power. The major objective is to greatly increase the flight endurance of the UAV by the power generated from the solar panels. The power system is first designed by selecting the suitable system architecture and then by selecting suitable components related to solar power. The flight control system is configured to conduct flight tests and validate the power system performance. Under fair experimental conditions with desirable weather conditions, the solar power system on the aircraft results in 22.5% savings in the use of battery-stored capacity. The decrease rate of battery voltage during the stable level flight of the solar-powered UAV built is also much slower than the same configuration without a solar-power system.
Highlights
With widening the application scope of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as the driving force, the development of solar-powered UAV recently has attracted more attention in academia and commercial industries
The integration of solar power onto UAVs can extend the flight duration; it has the potential of enabling a wider scope of application of UAVs
The flight test verified that the project objective was met
Summary
With widening the application scope of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as the driving force, the development of solar-powered UAV recently has attracted more attention in academia and commercial industries. A critical factor limiting the scope of application of conventional battery-powered electric UAVs is their energy storage capability. The conventional UAV is powered by the energy stored in batteries on board to maintain the propulsion and functioning of flight control electronics. The amount of carried electric power limits its flight range before takeoff. More power is consumed to carry the extra weight, resulting in the flight range being not necessarily prolonged. A possible approach to overcome this physical limit is the use of solar power as an energy source on UAV.
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