A father-and-son team from Adelaide, Australia may have solved one of the critical issues that has previously inhibited solar-powered flight. As reported by David Washington in Adelaide’s InDaily news service, Don and Cameron Donaldson of Praxis Aeronautics have discovered a technique to fuse standard (e.g., low-cost) solar cells with composite material. The solar cells are thus part of the wings rather than being either heavy additions to existing wings or very expensive thin-film cells to wrap around the wings.

The technology has been demonstrated in a small drone (pictured) and the current challenge is to scale up to a larger prototype. Government funding is being supplied to help.