Solar panels have the power to make the aviation industry greener than it’s ever been, but they can also impose challenges for pilots and air traffic control.
Solar panels have the power to make the aviation industry greener than it’s ever been, but they can also impose challenges for pilots and air traffic control. Fortunately, University of Waterloo researchers are discovering ways to make this vital source of clean energy work for airports around the world.
Backed by Government of Canada funding through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), a team of experts at the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA) has enlisted a camera-equipped drone and created computer simulations to understand the potential risks of the reflected glare caused by solar panels. Armed with this information, they’ll help design environmentally-friendly airports.
“Canada has to deal with its emissions,” explains Dr. Costa Kapsis, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and one of the project’s leaders. “What we’re trying to do is part of the effort to electrify aviation buildings and make airport facilities more sustainable and energy-resilient with adopting renewable technologies.”
Read more at: University of Waterloo
Photo Credit: Anestiev via Pixabay
