Hello All,

Our biggest problem with the project currently is the funds for solar cells. Our power systems team has contacted numerous sources but unfortunately have been not as successful as we had originally planned in finding affordable and efficient solar cells. While we wait for a few more responses and figure out how to alleviate this, our power systems team has been working with a few solar panels we had purchased off of Amazon. George and Edgar, the two students you see above, were able to access our lab space at ET 303 and begin to dissect it and get a hands on feel of solar cells. We tried to see if it were possible to disassemble the entire panel to obtain just the solar cells but found this not likely due to clear epoxies and glue that keep it intact. This week, they will be performing numerous tests to obtain preliminary data regarding some power system equations and to find the efficiency of said solar panels. This data will be helpful to us as we move forward with calculating the power necessary to run the aircraft. While we wait for the companies’ responses this week, we are researching cheaper alternatives such as monocrystalline cells which are inexpensive but rather fragile. We hope it does not default to this, but we will achieve success nonetheless. This week will also be dedicated to working on our Project Poster and Final presentations for our adviser, Professor Wang.

Thank you for reading once again,

Blake Theilacker
btheilac@uci.edu