3 ms·

But for the specific case you're discarding here - a solar-powered camera drone - doesn't this new motor provide a serious improvement? Low-cost solar-powered

• mikeash 10y ago
  I'm sure it'll help, but the fundamental problem with solar powered aircraft is that one pound of solar panel can lift barely more than one pound. That means saving weight on the motor can cut out a lot of solar panels, of course, but it also means you still need a ton of solar panels just to lift the structure of the aircraft and the payload. I don't think we'll see cheap solar drones anytime soon. Current solar aircraft need to be gigantic and fly extremely slowly. Small drones typically want to be quadcopters, which are inherently inefficient, but have other nice properties. If you want a solar-powered small drone, make a stationary solar array, give the drone a swappable battery pack, and charge batteries with the stationary array while different batteries are powering the drone.