Trade-off analysis of regenerative power source for long duration loitering Airship

High Altitude Airships (HAA) provide affordable, long duration, loitering platforms for communication and surveillance in both military and civilian markets. HAAs offer a potentially lower cost alternative to current unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and satellites. The objective of the HAA is to loiter above a given point at flight level (FL) 650 for a one year period before descending back to base for maintenance. To achieve the loitering mission requirements, the airship needs a reliable, low-weight, renewable power generation system. This analysis is focused on solar power to satisfy these requirements. Analysis includes the following solar power technologies: photovoltaic flat panels, thin film photovoltaic panels, trough solar concentrators, Stirling dish solar concentrators, and luminescent solar concentrators (LSC). An analysis using an aerodynamic model of the HAA showed a non-linear increase in power consumption required to overcome incremental weight and drag. Evaluating the tradeoffs of the cost against the power consumption, efficiency, and reliability for each alternative yielded that the benefits of the highly efficient concentrator options are outweighed by their excessive drag. Flat solar technologies (i.e. thin film, LSC, and flat panel PV) are ranked the highest.