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Ascent Solar Technologies has started supplying lightweight and flexible thin-film solar cells for the Silent Falcon unmanned aircraft (SFUAS) manufacture by Bye Aerospace. According to sUAS News these two companies, Ascent Solar and Bye Aerospace, have collaborated on the development of the UAV, and particularly on it solar wings, since May 2012.  The photoelectric components (PV) Ascent Solar supplies will be covering any part of the plane, wings as well as body, facing up.

The Silent Falcon is a solar-electric modular small UAS. It incorporates an interchangeable wing configuration designed for commercial purposes, public safety as well as defense applications. The UAS weighs about 15 kilo. It claims to feature efficient aerodynamic design, lightweight composite construction and advanced solar energy collection which facilitates all day flight endurance. The UAS does have the capability of storing electric power but sunlight is what enables it to fly long distance.

Ascent Solar’s Chief Technology Officer, Joe Armstrong is proud. “Its solar wings, based on our flexible photovoltaic product, are performing extremely well. They are giving the propulsion system a significant source of lightweight electric energy, and enabling the aircraft’s unprecedented endurance.” The collaboration on the Silent Falcon, he says, has been particularly fruitful. “We have demonstrated a product specific to their needs and specifications.”

Bye Aerospace started the SFUAS project in 2010, with a prototype electric UAV and initial design work on solar electric hybrid propulsion. SFUAS president John Brown said: “Silent Falcon is the first solar-electric aircraft to enter commercial production. Another developer of a solar driven UAS is Titan Aerospace. Titan was bought in mid-April 2014 by Google, for its Project Loon. ‘Loon’ in this case stands for lunatic. Google people are striving to provide internet access to 5 billion people through a variety of technologies, not least among them high altitude flying balloons.

The Solara 50 manufactured by Titan Aerospace is currently under development, and claims to be the world’s first solar powered unmanned aircraft that can function as an atmospheric satellite. A spokesperson for Bye Aerospace said the Silent Falcon is available for flight demonstrations, and that the manufacturer expects to receive orders exceeding several hundred units a year.