Perovskite Solar Cells to Extend Drone Battery Life

OVERVIEW  

Stable, lightweight, flexible perovskite solar cells for battery-powered drones.

• Offers four to ten times the power-to-weight ratio and significantly increased stability over traditional perovskite solar cells.
• Consumable retrofitted solar patches that extend battery life and operational range for commercial, defense, and recreational drones.

BACKGROUND  

Extending the operational time and flight range of battery-powered devices, particularly quadrotor drones, remains a major industry challenge. Current flight times of 20 to 40 minutes are woefully inadequate for many users, including defense agencies and national parks. While adding extra batteries can extend capacity, the additional weight quickly negates any power gain, alongside increasing costs and safety concerns. Solar cells offer numerous advantages over batteries, and perovskite solar cells (PSCs) feature thin-film configurations on flexible substrates paired with exceptional energy conversion efficiencies of 35% or higher, delivering 4X–10X the power-to-weight ratio of other chemistries. However, PSCs have historically suffered from rapid performance degradation. There is a critical need for stable, lightweight solar solutions that enhance drone endurance without adding restrictive weight or requiring complete system overhauls.

INNOVATION

This technology delivers a stable, lightweight, and flexible perovskite solar cell that prolongs photovoltaic performance with practically no extra weight. Applied to both rigid and flexible PSCs, it utilizes multiple passivation strategies: an encapsulation chemistry implemented prior to device sealing, interface passivation between the absorber and hole transport layers, and an additive that further stabilizes the perovskite absorber. The encapsulation technique alone increases device stability by almost 10X. The resulting product is a consumable, soft PSC patch that conformally attaches as an aftermarket retrofit to battery-powered quadrotor drones. Operating as modular, easily replaceable components, these flexible patches extend battery life up to 140% or higher compared to battery-only systems. This extra power enables longer, more productive flights, greater operational ranges, and less downtime spent on the ground recharging across consumer, commercial, national park, and defense applications.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Pending