Building integrated photovoltaic powered wireless drone charging system

The future of urban drone-based transportation and delivery depends upon the efficient operation of its charging infrastructure. Working against gravity draws substantial energy from the drone’s battery, requiring frequent recharging. Currently, battery swapping is the most preferred method for drone charging. Charging multiple drones using the wired charging method has complications such as untangling, tripping over problems, wear and tear, and requires human intervention. This limits the drones from becoming fully autonomous and self-sufficient. To address these problems, an innovative Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) structure with wireless drone charging capabilities is designed to optimize the usage of rooftop space for multi-drone landings and utilize the wall space for efficient Photovoltaic (PV) based charging. This study compares the charging output from five PV panel mountings: a rooftop panel, a vertical PV panel, a 30° inclined PV panel, an inclined PV panel with a black reflective surface, and an inclined PV panel with a white reflective surface. The 30° inclined PV panel charges the 12.6 V/5.2 Ah drone’s LiPo battery in 31.29 min compared to vertically placed panels, which take 36.9 min. PV panel with a black reflective surface yields 10.09 % more energy compared to a white reflective surface PV panel. The output of the 30° inclined PV panel is connected to the wireless charging system, which transfers 120 W across a vertical displacement of 0–10 mm with an efficiency of 95.70 %.