Design of a Solar System UAV

The objective of the project was to design a solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (SPUAV) system. The concept of SPUAVs simply stands for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) covered with solar cells and uses solar energy as the only power source. During the daytime flight, the cells get solar energy from the sun and then convert it into electrical energy that is used to power the engine, and the excess electrical energy is stored in the battery for the night flight. The solar system was installed on the UAV airframe, which had a specially designed flying wing. The goal was to double the endurance of any UAV after adding solar cells (SCs) and flying at an altitude of 100 m and 35 km/h. This study was conducted using the eCalc website and mathematical equations as well as MATLAB and Multisim software to evaluate the system’s performance. By providing the SPUAV with a camera, this project can be used to monitor illegal immigration attempts across the Omani borders, and to track missing persons at sea or in the mountains, since these tasks require continuous flight operations.