Thin Film Multi-source Energy Harvester for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has recently focused on extending flight time. Currently, the power supply of UAVs is based on silicon, CIGS, and CdTe commercial thin film solar cells, operating through energy storage devices such as lithium-ion batteries. However, UAV technology still suffers from limited flight times to provide much information during reconnaissance missions for the US Army. It is essential to collect data from UAV technology to increase the intelligence gather capabilities of the US Army. In this project, we will develop a lightweight, hybridized dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) with nanogenerator (NG) that is less sensitive to incident sunlight than a conventional solar cell and capable of converting electricity from turbulence and temperature difference generated during the flight of UAVs at high altitude. The multi-energy harvesting device will meet the power density per device of 10 mW/cm2 required to support the UAV platform increase the flight time during the operation, and provide auxiliary power to multifunctional sources on UAV.