MicroLink Devices (Niles, Illinois, U.S.) on May 18th, 2016 announced that Airbus Defence and Space has issued a production contract for MicroLink's epitaxial liftoff (ELO)-based multi-junction solar photovoltaic (PV) sheets for use on the new Zephyr S platform.
MicroLink has developed a lightweight, flexible, high-efficiency solar PV sheet that is an enabling technology for electrically powered, area and weight constrained applications such as unmanned air vehicles, which run on renewable energy.
Unmanned air vehicle runs exclusively on solar power
The Zephyr platform is a new class of unmanned air vehicle that operates as a high altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS) enabling affordable, persistent, local satellite-like services.
The aircraft runs exclusively on solar power, and the Zephyr aircraft is at the forefront of the HAPS arena, holding world records with regards to absolute endurance (more than 14 days) and altitude (more than 70,000 feet). The British Ministry of Defence currently has ordered two Zephyr S from Airbus Defence and Space.
The Zephyr S is designed to fly continuously for over a month before having to land. The vehicle can then be refurbished and redeployed.
The combination of high-efficiency and low mass enabled by ELO-based solar cells provides superior performance compared to any other currently available solar cell technology platform, MicroLink emphasizes.
MicroLink's ELO solar cells are a perfect match for the HAPS platform. The resulting solar sheets have specific powers in excess of 1,000 W/kg and areal powers greater than 250 W/m2.
MicroLink's ELO technology was sponsored by numerous U.S. agencies including NASA, DARPA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Office of Naval Research, NAVAIR, Army Research Office, Army REF, CERDEC, and the Department of Energy.
“We are extremely pleased to have developed a relationship with the Zephyr team four years ago and to transition our high-performance solar sheet development efforts into a production program,” comments Dr. Noren Pan, the President and CEO of MicroLink Devices.
“We are also thankful to Airbus for their purchase order and the confidence they have in MicroLink's solar sheet technology and manufacturing ability. We know of no other flexible solar sheet that offers a comparable performance in terms of power and weight and reliability under a wide temperature range.”
source:http://www.solarserver.com/
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