3 ms·
To add to that you simply can’t escape physics… A 200W solar panel with 20% conversion efficiency needs a 1000W of solar radiation hitting it to produce that m
by dogma1138 5y ago
To add to that you simply can’t escape physics…
A 200W solar panel with 20% conversion efficiency needs a 1000W of solar radiation hitting it to produce that much, most of it would be converted into heat, that’s roughly the average for an area just under 1 sq/m in size.
Thermals are a big problem for solar panels and I’m not sure how that would work with thinner panels.
I also don’t see how you’ll power a drone with solar panels regarding how much they weight the surface area seems not to be sufficient even if the panels would be 80-90% efficient.
- jacquesm 5y agoOn the plus side, every little bit that can be exported as electrons does not need to be shed as IR. The problem is that quite a bit of that 1000W incident is not in a part of the spectrum that lends itself readily to conversion to electricity.
- addaon 5y agoCouldn't one build a dielectric mirror onto the surface of the panel to selectively reflect those frequencies that aren't converted well, to avoid the thermal load of absorbing them? Is the issue that dielectric mirrors are too fragile?
- jacquesm 5y agoNo, the problem is that your dielectric mirror would have to be a perfect reflector for one set of wavelengths and a perfect passthrough for the remainder. In practice though it will always be gradients so you'll end up reflecting some of what you want and passing some of what you don't want.
- namibj 5y agoThey are not too fragile; they can coat them onto the solar cell's surface.
- labawi 5y agoPanel thickness is not a positive factor for cooling, it's only good for structural support. Unless your panels are tiny, all the heat escapes through the front/back surfaces, thinner being better, though surface treatment and airflow is a bigger factor. If they meant winged drones - those already exist.