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Sentinels, Spy Cams or Something Else - Powered Drones

Are solar powered drones going to be taking over the skies?

Perhaps not right away, but the commercial drone industry is

predicted to grow into a $10 billion dollar market in the next

couple of years, and successfully-powered solar drones could take

advantage of such a large increase in investment.

Drones as they are now primarily used by militaries, but there has

been a growing movement to adapt them for commercial use. In

March 2014, Facebook acquired the U.K.-based aerospace

company Ascenta for $20 million; the next month saw Google

acquire Titan Aerospace for an undisclosed amount of money.

Ascenta and Titan Aerospace both specialize in designing solar-

powered drones. They were bought by the tech giants as a way to

expand internet connectivity to everyone on the planet. Indeed,

part of the appeal of solar powered drones is that they can act like

geostationary satellites without the huge cost of sending an actual

satellite into orbit. In addition to providing wireless internet

connection, they could also be used as an auxiliary GPS; as a way

to monitor wildlife, weather patterns, environmental degradation,

or even people.

With their long wings covered in solar cells, these drones are silent

and self-sufficient, running off the electric batteries that store

collected solar energy. Maximum flight times depend on the size

and design of the drone, ranging from an hour on one end of the

spectrum up to several years on the other.

The perceived freedom solar-powered drones could have raises

questions about who would be allowed to operate solar powered

drones and the information they would lawfully be able to gather.

Titan Aerospace’s Solera 50 drone model is scheduled to be tested

later this year, with an advertised capacity to fly for up to five

years without landing. The ultra-lightweight planes are designed to

fly at altitudes above commercial flight zones, but as there is no

international agreement that determines the vertical extent of a

country’s sovereign airspace, the presence of a solar powered

drone above a country could be viewed as a threat.

Greenshine New Energy http://www.greenshine-solar.com

Solar-powered drones also face domestic regulatory challenges.

Although drones are expanding into the commercial and private

sector, progress has been dependent upon regulatory agencies. In

Japan, drones have been used to fertilize crops for decades, but in

the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) does

not yet have regulations in place, which has led to confusion. In

March, a federal judge ruled that the FAA did not have the

authority to ban commercial drones use on the University of

Missouri campus after a class was using them. The FAA is

appealed the ruling to the National Transportation Safety Board,

but nothing has been decided yet.

Official U.S. drone regulations are expected to come out by 2015.

It is an important reminder that as the world tries to shape the

future of drones—solar-powered and otherwise—their deployment

has the potential to shape our future, as well.

About GreenShine:

Greenshine New Energy, LLC. Specializes in developing and

manufacturing customized solar lighting systems for a wide range

of lighting applications. At Greenshine we specialize in solar street

lights, garden lights, and lawn lights for outdoor applications. Our

lights can be installed anywhere, especially areas where grid tied

electricity is not available.