Flying by the Sun only: The Solarcopter prototype

Solarcopter is a direct sunlight powered helicopter. It is a remote control quadcopter UAV able to continuously fly in sunlight without any need for energy storage. The prototype successfully flew under irradiance of 1000 W/m2 and achieved a thrust to weight ratio of 1.36:1. The Solarcopter is a proof of concept prototype demonstrating that the power required for helicopters can be obtained directly from sunlight.