High Voltage, Lightweight, Conformal, Integrated, Photovoltaic Modules for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

This Phase II effort will establish stretchable photovoltaic modules that achieve the key metrics of the program: modules with efficiencies > 10%, that sustain elastic deformations > 10% (with little or no loss in performance), and that produce output voltages > 25 V. In this Phase II effort will we demonstrate functional modules deployed on the airfoil of micro unmanned aerial vehicles (MAVs). To do so, we combine multi-junction and multi-stacked solar microcells with non-coplanar mesh of metal interconnects supported by thin elastomeric substrates to achieve high density, conformal arrays of solar microcells optimized for specific power output. Phase II will culminate with the field testing of working prototypes of solar modules to position the program for successful integration of modules into MAV platforms in Phase III.