Silent Sentinel UAV to use solar power

An unmanned aerial vehicle that's intended to use a combination of solar power and stored electricity is being developed by Ascent Solar Technologies and Bye Aerospace, both companies announced Tuesday.

(Credit: Bye Aerospace)

Ascent Solar will be supplying flexible thin-film photovoltaic modules designed for Bye's drone, the Silent Sentinel.

Bye will be using a Williams International FJ33 turbofan engine that will draw power from stored electrical power in a lithium-ion battery and the photovoltaic panels on the plane.

The result will be a quiet, low-emission hybrid UAV with added endurance, according to Bye.

The Silent Sentinel is intended for military surveillance purposes, but could also be used in the commercial world for things like pipeline and power line inspection, forest fire watch, and aerial photography.

While Bye said it has had proposal meetings with U.S. government officials, no contract for the vehicle has yet been signed with the U.S. military.

Bye will not be the first to combine solar panels with a drone-type aircraft. British defense contractor Qinetiq built and tested the Zephyr, a 66-pound glider that flew an unofficial record 54 hours straight (according to Qinetiq's own report) over White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in 2007. In early 2008, DARPA announced it was developing the Vulture, a solar-powered aircraft that would "fly" for 5 years straight, though arguably that UAV could be considered more of a satellite in orbit.

[hexor]

Don't you mean ZERO emissions instead of "low-emissions"? Its all electrical.

[robotfan]

Didn't you see the word "Hybrid"? How can it be all electric if it's a hybrid? The definition of hybrid in this case means powered by electricity AND fuel.

[GRobLewis]

What on earth are you talking about, Candace? The Williams FJ33 is a conventional jet engine that runs on good ol' kerosene. There is no conceivable scenario under which it "will draw power from stored electrical power in a lithium-ion battery and the photovoltaic panels on the plane". None.

More likely, the jet is used to launch the aircraft and get it up to altitude, at which point the electric power may be enough to keep it aloft.

Oh, for the days when science and technology reporters actually understood a bit of science and technology. Last week's bit of foolishness: a TV reporter in Arizona waxing ecstatic about a "solar-powered motorcycle." As if.

[robotfan]

Mr. Lewis, The first part of your comment was dead-on. Then you blew it. I have a solar powered motorcycle at home. I ride it on the weekends. It uses batteries to store the electricity, and to provide the electricity to the electric motor while it is in motion, but the electrons that I put into the batteries are generated by solar cells. Therefore, a solar powered motorcycle. As if indeed. As if there were any other way to do it properly. [CNET editors' note: Personal attack deleted.]

[IcedMocha]

Manhattan2: You are a good ol' fashioned Flim-Flam man.

Keep up the mystery, someone might give you their money . . .

[robotfan]

I think G-Rob-Lewis got it right. The turbofan (turbine-engine-plus-ducted-fan) is used to power the craft up to altitude, then the thin film solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, and an electric motor and propellor (NOT SHOWN in DIAGRAM) are used to keep the bird cruising at a useful altitude. Therefore high emission for the first few minutes of flight, then zero-emission for the remainder, averaging out to low-emission overall. [CNET editors' note: Personal attack deleted.]

[Bytrat]

Ah, is the turbofan modified to allow for the addition of an electric motor or is there another electric motor powered ducted-fan on the aircraft?