Drone-integrated PV: potential and demonstration

Imec; Vlaams-Brabant; On-site; EUR 12,000 - 18,000; Full time

Job summary

Imec invites Bachelor, Master, or PhD interns to work on drone-integrated PV projects at the Energyville campus in Genk, Belgium. The internship explores PV potential on UAVs, selecting suitable surfaces and examining how PV can extend drone range and autonomy.

The project emphasizes hands-on lab work, including fabrication and testing of lightweight PV panels, with close collaboration with the KU Leuven promoter and supervising scientists.

Qualifications

• Type of internship: Bachelor internship, Master internship, PhD internship
• Location: Genk, Belgium; Energyville campus
• University promoter: Jef Poortmans (KU Leuven)

Responsibilities

• Carry out the project activities in a lab environment with hands-on tasks
• Assess PV potential on UAV platforms (quad-copter to fixed-wing) and surface areas
• Design, fabricate and test lightweight PV panels and modules
• Develop a final proof-of-concept for a UAV-powered system

Skills

Hands-on mentality

Lab experience

Education

Electromechanical engineering

Electrotechnics/Electrical Engineering

Energy

Materials Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Job description

/ Drone-integrated PV: potential and demonstration

Drone-integrated PV: potential and demonstration

Bachelor internship, Master internship, PhD internship - Genk | About a week ago

With both PV and drones becoming more and more ubiquitous, there is agrowing interest in investigating thepotential of PV towards powering drones, to increase their range andautonomy, even towards extended automated missions.

In this thesis, a first topic is to assess the potential, taking intoaccount different types of UAVs (e.g. quad-copter to fixed-wing) andapplications (e.g. transport and surveillance) and resolve what surface areacould be used for PV and how much it could then contribute to the power supply.In a second phase, after having determined suitable surfaces on a defined UAV,a system can be designed, including mechanical aspects (size, curvature,weight) as well as electrical (current and voltage ranges). With the knowledgeand equipment for fabricating and testing light-weight PV panels available inthe lab, these can then be manufactured to demonstrate the potential. Combiningall elements, a UAV may be modified and/or assembled as final proof-of-conceptand outcome of the thesis.

Fromthe above description, it should be clear that the topic is stronglyexperimentally-oriented and requires a hands-on mentality with a lot of timespent in the lab. Considering the diversity of topics involved, the topic canbe tuned somewhat depending on the background and interest of the applicant.

Thiswork will be carried out in the new facilities in the Energyville campus inGenk with manufacturing equipment that goes beyond state-of-the-art in moduleproduction (in a lab environment) and is geared towards these technologies.interms of interconnection and encapsulation. No less indispensable is the accessto in-house knowledge, as well as the availability of characterizationequipment and expertise (similarly state-of-the-ard and beyond) to adequatelyassess individual and combined process steps, ranging from materialcharacterization and analysis to full module performance measurements andreliability testing.

With both PV and drones becoming more and more ubiquitous, there is agrowing interest in investigating thepotential of PV towards powering drones, to increase their range andautonomy, even towards extended automated missions.

In this thesis, a first topic is to assess the potential, taking intoaccount different types of UAVs (e.g. quad-copter to fixed-wing) andapplications (e.g. transport and surveillance) and resolve what surface areacould be used for PV and how much it could then contribute to the power supply.In a second phase, after having determined suitable surfaces on a defined UAV,a system can be designed, including mechanical aspects (size, curvature,weight) as well as electrical (current and voltage ranges). With the knowledgeand equipment for fabricating and testing light-weight PV panels available inthe lab, these can then be manufactured to demonstrate the potential. Combiningall elements, a UAV may be modified and/or assembled as final proof-of-conceptand outcome of the thesis.

Fromthe above description, it should be clear that the topic is stronglyexperimentally-oriented and requires a hands-on mentality with a lot of timespent in the lab. Considering the diversity of topics involved, the topic canbe tuned somewhat depending on the background and interest of the applicant.

Thiswork will be carried out in the new facilities in the Energyville campus inGenk with manufacturing equipment that goes beyond state-of-the-ard and beyond to in lab environment and is geared towards these technologies.interms of interconnection and encapsulation. No less indispensable is the accessto in-house knowledge, as well as the availability of characterizationequipment and expertise (similarly state-of-the-ard and beyond) to adequatelyassess individual and combined process steps, ranging from materialcharacterization and analysis to full module performance measurements andreliability testing.

Apart from the technical capabilities, the location in the Thorpark inthe old mining site of Waterschei offers an attractive (though remote)surrounding, while the work will be merged into the activities of the MPowerteam working on wafer-based c-Si PV technologies.

Type of internship: Bachelor internship, Master internship, PhD internship

Duration: 6-9 months

Required educational background: Electromechanical engineering, Electrotechnics/Electrical Engineering, Energy, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

University promotor: Jef Poortmans (KU Leuven)

Supervising scientist(s): For further information or for application, please contact Jonathan Govaerts ( [e-mail] )

The reference code for this position is 2026-INT-264. Mention this reference code in your application.

Imec allowance will be provided for students studying at a non-Belgian university.

Applications should include the following information:

• resume
• motivation
• current study

With both PV and drones becoming more and more ubiquitous, there is agrowing interest in investigating thepotential of PV towards powering drones, to increase their range andautonomy, even towards extended automated missions.

In this thesis, a first topic is to assess the potential, taking intoaccount different types of UAVs (e.g. quad-copter to fixed-wing) andapplications (e.g. transport and surveillance) and resolve what surface areacould be used for PV and how much it could then contribute to the power supply.In a second phase, after having determined suitable surfaces on a defined UAV,a system can be designed, including mechanical aspects (size, curvature,weight) as well as electrical (current and voltage ranges). With the knowledgeand equipment for fabricating and testing light-weight PV panels available inthe lab, these can then be manufactured to demonstrate the potential. Combiningall elements, a UAV may be modified and/or assembled as final proof-of-conceptand outcome of the thesis.

Fromthe above description, it should be clear that the topic is stronglyexperimentally-oriented and requires a hands-on mentality with a lot of timespent in the lab. Considering the diversity of topics involved, the topic canbe tuned somewhat depending on the background and interest of the applicant.

Thiswork will be carried out in the new facilities in the Energyville campus inGenk with manufacturing equipment that goes beyond state-of-the-ard and beyond to in lab environment and is geared towards these technologies.interms of interconnection and encapsulation. No less indispensable is the accessto in-house knowledge, as well as the availability of characterizationequipment and expertise (similarly state-of-the-ard and beyond) to adequatelyassess individual and combined process steps, ranging from materialcharacterization and analysis to full module performance measurements andreliability testing.

Apart from the technical capabilities, the location in the Thorpark inthe old mining site of Waterschei offers an attractive (though remote)surrounding, while the work will be merged into the activities of the MPowerteam working on wafer-based c-Si PV technologies.

Type of internship: Bachelor internship, Master internship, PhD internship

Duration: 6-9 months

Required educational background: Electromechanical engineering, Electrotechnics/Electrical Engineering, Energy, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

University promotor: Jef Poortmans (KU Leuven)

Supervising scientist(s): For further information or for application, please contact Jonathan Govaerts ( [e-mail] )

The reference code for this position is 2026-INT-264. Mention this reference code in your application.

Imec allowance will be provided for students studying at a non-Belgian university.

Applications should include the following information:

• resume
• motivation
• current study

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

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