Researchers at the University of Sheffield, AMRC Sheffield, solar-powered drone developer Limosaero, and Loughborough University have secured funding to integrate perovskite photovoltaics directly onto carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP), the structural material used in aircraft skins, as part of a UK government push to build aircraft that can hold station in the stratosphere for extended periods.
The project, led by David G. Lidzey at the University of Sheffield and titled "Structural Solar: Integrating perovskite PV onto carbon fiber for high specific power," is one of 18 teams sharing £70 million (about US$80.2 million) from the UK's Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) under its Enduring Atmospheric Platforms program. The program targets aircraft able to continuously supply 300 watts of power to a communications payload for a full week while holding station above the UK, with the aim of creating a new connectivity layer between the ground and space. Structural Solar sits within the program's Technical Area 1, which funds materials and power technologies meant to de-risk development of a full stratospheric platform; ARIA has not disclosed the funding amount awarded to this specific project out of the overall £70 million.
The approach uses low-temperature, solution-processed perovskite solar cells that are spray-cast directly onto CFRP substrates, rather than added as a separate photovoltaic layer, so the aircraft's load-bearing structure itself generates power. The team is targeting a specific power (power generated per unit mass) of up to 10 times that of the gallium arsenide cells conventionally used on high-altitude platforms, along with thin-film coatings intended to protect the cells from moisture infiltration. Removing the mass of a dedicated solar layer directly supports the program's endurance target for long-duration stratospheric flight.
The work builds on Lidzey's earlier published research combining perovskite photovoltaics with CFRP substrates, which demonstrated that the resulting composite retains high mechanical strength while also generating electrical power. His group has since shown that perovskite cells can be spray-coated directly onto CFRP, including onto curved surfaces, reaching efficiencies of about 14%.
ARIA is backing a range of approaches beyond Structural Solar, "from fixed-wing solar aircraft to designs nobody predicted, including aircraft that fly on spinning wings instead of propellers," said Rico Chandra, ARIA's program director for Enduring Atmospheric Platforms. Sixteen of the 18 funded teams are based in the UK; two more, based in Australia and the US, are relocating operations to the UK as a result of the award.
