Solar-Powered Food—Water—Power System for Arid Areas

Electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems powered solely by battery cannot achieve long endurance. Despite recent improvements in battery technology, UAVs barely last for 4 hours, thereby decreasing the attractiveness of battery-powered UAVs. Progress has been made in developing hybrid-powered solar and battery systems for UAVs. However, the small number of solar UAVs developed indicates the research gap, particularly in the aspect of power system and integration. Accordingly, this paper provides a detailed review of solar cell and battery development applicable to small UAVs. This review includes the technologies of miniature electric motors, batteries, fuel cells, and solar cells. A comprehensive battery and solar cell technology trend is then discussed. This wok elucidates the effect of solar and battery technology progress on solar UAV development. The combination of electric motor, battery, and solar cells offers an excellent solution to the requirements of various long-endurance applications.

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Mini-grid power system optimization design and economic analysis of solar powered sea water desalination plant for rural communities and emergency relief conditions

2012 IEEE International Power Engineering and Optimization Conference ◽

10.1109/peoco.2012.6230909 ◽

2012 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

N.H. Baharudin ◽

T.M.N.T. Mansur ◽

R.B. Ali ◽

A.A.A. Wahab ◽

N.A. Rahman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rural Communities ◽

Economic Analysis ◽

Power System ◽

Optimization Design ◽

Sea Water ◽

System Optimization ◽

Water Desalination ◽

Emergency Relief ◽

Power System Optimization ◽

Solar Powered

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Analysis of the Water—Power Nexus of the Balkan Peninsula Power System

Springer Proceedings in Energy - Solar Energy Conversion in Communities ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-55757-7_17 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 235-257

Author(s):

Goran Stunjek ◽

Antun Pfeifer ◽

Goran Krajačić ◽

Neven Duić

Keyword(s):

Power System ◽

Balkan Peninsula ◽

Water Power

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Integrating a wind- and solar-powered hybrid to the power system by coupling it with a hydroelectric power station with pumping installation

Energy ◽

10.1016/j.energy.2017.12.011 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 144 ◽

pp. 549-563 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Jakub Jurasz ◽

Jerzy Mikulik ◽

Magdalena Krzywda ◽

Bartłomiej Ciapała ◽

Mirosław Janowski

Keyword(s):

Power System ◽

Hydroelectric Power Station ◽

Hydroelectric Power ◽

Power Station ◽

Solar Powered

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Development of a Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Extended Flight Endurance

Drones ◽

10.3390/drones5020044 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 44

Author(s):

Yau Hei Chu ◽

Chun Leung Ho ◽

Yoon Jo Lee ◽

Boyang Li

Keyword(s):

Power System ◽

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ◽

Flight Control ◽

Solar Power ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Solar Panels ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Aerial Vehicle ◽

Solar Powered ◽

Power System Performance

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.

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