The Air forces UAV’s (unmanned aerial vehicles) are set to be powered by special solar cells. These are not your regular solar cells however, these cells are dye sensitized and have been made from a combination of moth-eye film and organic dyes. The resulting cells are far more powerful than conventional solar cells.

The cells being produced by The University of Washington’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) project team will enable UAV’s to fly further than those using conventional fuel sources, not to mention its cost saving and environmental friendliness factors.

The cells are spread across the wings of the aircraft and allow harvesting of energy on the fly (if you will pardon the pun).

Its certainly encouraging progress into the military looking toward alternative energies and shows just how far we have come when even our defence force heads down the path of solar energy, who knows what repercussions this may have in civilian life, many of the military ground breaking research projects eventually filter their way into every day life in a beneficial incarnation.

If you are solar enthusiast or  hobbyist why not try your hand at building your own solar panels, you can find more information about building your own solar panels here