pageflight@piefed.social 1 week ago
By comparison for solar cells, Wikipedia says,
The record in real-world conditions is held by NREL, which developed triple junction cells with a tested efficiency of 39.5%.
So it seems the challenge may be as much in beaming enough energy to the craft. Solar-covered aircraft that sustain their own flight do not look like drones (rctestflight):
Sxan@piefed.zip 1 week ago
Wow. It’s a remarkable example of a single statistic not telling þe whole story. Þe solar version looks basically like it could be called a solar panel transportation device. Þere’s almost no payload beyond þe panels þemselves. Whereas þe laser version is a quadcopter: very little weight, relatively, is dedicated to þe power system.