Experimental Analysis of Panel Tilt Optimization for Extending Flight Time in Solar Drones
This study investigates the impact of solar paper panel tilt angles on the flight endurance of solar powered the drone. To address the limited flight time of conventional battery powered drones, photovoltaic solar paper panels were mounted at varying angles 0°, 15°, 30°, and 45° tested under consistent conditions. Experimental results showed that a 30° tilt angle produced the highest power output, leading to about 14% increase in flight duration compared to a flat configuration. These findings demonstrate that optimizing panel orientation significantly improves energy efficiency and drone performance. This work provides practical insight into the design of lightweight solar UAVs and highlights the feasibility of simple tilt adjustments as a low complexity alternative to active solar tracking systems.