High Specific Energy Means More Time in the Air for a Fuel Cell UAV
Hydrogen fuel cells for aerospace provide high specific energies (Wh/kg) for longer-duration flights and come with the added benefit of fast fueling, allowing customers to maximize the utilization of these assets.
Leading in Fuel Cell Solutions for aerospace
Through our 2019 acquisition of Montreal, Canada-based EnergyOr, we’ve become a leader in fuel cells for UAVs, setting several world records for endurance flights through the use of EnergyOr’s innovative and proprietary fuel cell technology. In March of 2015, we powered the world’s first fuel cell multirotor UAV, later used in conjunction with the French Air Force’s Centre d’ Expertise Aérienne Militaire (CEAM). In December 2015, the H2Quad 400 was developed, becoming the first fuel cell quad rotor in the world to operate outdoors in a real-world environment.
Solving the Flight Time Equation
Electrically-powered UAVs typically use Lithium Polymer (LiPo) battery packs as an energy source, which effectively address many of the critical UAV system requirements – except one: Long flight times. In fact, this challenge is the main limiting factor for all military or commercial electric UAVs in the market today. Hydrogen fuel cell systems have the ability to fill this gap while meeting all of the key UAV requirements. Simply put, our innovative fuel cell technology has been designed to fit a lot of runtime into a lightweight product, which significantly increases the amount of time the UAV may be flown when compared to battery-powered UAVs.
