Recent Trends in Long Endurance Solar Powered UAVs: A Review

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles finds its application in both military and civilian sectors. Recently, its utilization has become an everyday phenomena in various private and government bodies. Applications like surveillance, remote sensing, and data transmission are being done by UAVs these days. This requires extended hours of flight or long endurance. To facilitate the aircraft to remain in airborne condition continuously, a large amount of gasoline or fossil fuel is required. Since fossil fuels are declining rapidly, an alternate source of energy is introduced- Solar Energy. Since solar energy is abundance in nature, so it becomes easier to harness it and extract useful work from it. This paper aims to bring out the various aspects of solar powered UAVs in the recent times, its design parameters, limitations and its utilization.