Bye Aerospace has announced that solar cells from a company called SolAero were successfully installed and ground tested on both wings of Bye Aerospace's initial prototype of the StratoAirNet UAV, which is an advanced, medium-altitude, long-endurance solar-electric aircraft being developed by the company.
 
In a statement, Bye Aerospace's CEO George Bye expressed appreciation to SolAero for the company’s active participation in developing the StratoAirNet UAV.

“SolAero is a business and engineering partner in every sense of the word,” Bye says. “With the completion of ground tests for the solar cells on the wings, we can advance to the next stage of assembly and testing.”

Described as a “light-weight, carbon composite construction, aerodynamically efficient” aircraft, the StratoAirNet UAV has a payload of up to 70 pounds, which provides significant customer capability with several sensors at altitudes of up to 35,000 feet.

The initial StratoAirNet 15 prototype will be optionally-piloted to provide for quick qualification of customer payloads without FAA airspace restrictions that usually slow the development and deployment of UAVs and payloads.

​With a test pilot in the prototype aircraft, several things are accomplished at a quicker pace, with significantly less risks, including solar, battery and propulsion system maturity, preliminary flight performance evaluation and autoflight control optimization.