Experimental Evaluation of Encapsulated Solar cells for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Application

Abstract

One of the recent area where renewable energy is used is in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. It does offer many benefits but at the same time, create technical challenges both in the design and the manufacturing process. The photovoltaic (PV) cell in its raw form is very fragile and easily being damaged. Once cracked, the electrical output reduces, while a severe crack will cause the solar cell to be unusable. In this research, an encapsulation process to increase the durability and reliability were explored by performing a series of tests. Thus the objective of this study is to explore solar encapsulation process while aiming to maintain its conversion efficiency. Conversion efficiency and weight penalty of each technique were recorded and were measured under sun irradiance. The results show that epoxy resin encapsulation together with advance composite fabrication technique provide the best results in terms of reliability and conversion efficiency. This method helps to protect the PV cell against moisture and damage, thus prolong the life-span of the solar cells.