NRL Develops Tech to Keep Drones Flying for 12 Hours

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory hit a major milestone in UAV development – researchers perfected solar technology that allows drones to stay aloft for 12 hours.

The NRL developed a technology called “Solar-Soaring,” which pairs solar cells with a small battery, achieving the best of both worlds.

"With Solar-Soaring, the UAV doesn't need a huge battery because it is getting energy from the environment," said Dr. Dan Edwards, senior aerospace engineer in NRL's Tactical Electronic Warfare Division. "It just carries more intelligent software in the case of the autonomous soaring algorithms, or a lightweight, integrated solar array that captures much more energy from the sun compared to the amount of mass."

The new technology is supposedly compatible with existing UAVs ranging from the Raven, a hand-launched system, through the Predator. The latter would be no less than a minor miracle – the gas-powered MQ-1 Predator has a top speed of 135 MPH and range of 770 miles, meaning it can stay airborne for a max of 5.7 hours, and that’s without accounting for payload or other mission parameters. (The military recently retired the Predator in favor of the Reaper and other UAVs, all of which have a longer max range).

And while weight is a serious factor – arguably the top factor – in the viability of solar-based airborne systems, if “Solar-Soaring” can keep UAVs aloft for even a few more hours, it’d be a major coup.

Read more about this here: https://www.electricvehiclesresearch.com/articles/14547/solar-powered-uavs-fly-for-more-than-twelve-hours