Intelligent Energy is a leading developer of PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell technology for drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
In this Q&A, Andy Kelly, Head of Product Line at Intelligent Energy speaks to Unmanned Systems Technology about fuel cell engineering, including how he got into the field, the company’s fuel cell technology, and the advantages of using these cells.
What initially sparked your interest in fuel cell engineering, and how did you get started in the field?
I was a hi-tech product designer, designing complex and new technology, into usable and reliable commercial products. I originally moved to IE to work on integrating fuel cells into consumer products. This made sense for a while, but it was easy to see that drones were a much more suitable market for our fuel cell tech.
Starting the IE-SOAR product line allowed me to get involved with drone design and integration, customer requirements, commercial and product development, regulations and eventually own the product line.
How has Intelligent Energy’s fuel cell technology evolved over the years to better meet the needs of UAV manufacturers?
In 2016, we started to develop fuel cell systems for drone applications. There are some things that fuel cells are really good at, energy density being one of them. Using them to power flying products was a natural fit and allowed us to deliver significant benefits in this application.
In the early days of developing and commercialising our now SOAR products, we started trying to create a bespoke fuel cell system for every drone or customer that came along. We realised quickly that although the industry needed flexibility and configurability, what it needed more was reliable, mature products. So, we researched a lot and came up with a very specific product line, aimed at commercial and defence sweet spots.
Since releasing our first product, we have continued to take on board feedback and fix issues found by a wide range of different customers, constantly making our products more reliable and easier to use. We are finally reaching a stage where cost down and streamlining can start to be brought in (always secondary to reliability and usability) and recently we have reduced our prices significantly to make our product line more economically viable.
What advantages do fuel cells offer over traditional UAV power sources, and how are companies leveraging these benefits in their operations?
Fuel cells offer several significant advantages over traditional UAV power sources, particularly in the context of efficiency, sustainability, and operational performance. They generally provide longer endurance than traditional battery-powered alternatives due to their high-power density characteristics, enabling fuel cell powered UAVs to fly for significantly longer periods.
Alongside greater range, high power densities also support use cases such as parcel delivery whereby the lightweight nature of the fuel cell enables greater payloads to be carried without compromising on the power supply.
Companies involved in industrial inspections, surveying, and monitoring (such as in agriculture, oil, and gas, or infrastructure maintenance) are using fuel cells to extend the flight times of their drones. This allows for more comprehensive data collection over larger areas without needing frequent recharging.
An example of these advantages in action can be seen with our customer Kelluu in Finland who are making great progress growing their operations with our IE-SOAR fuel cell technology. The company specialise in environmental data collection using lighter-than-air technology and fuel cell systems to increase the volume and quality of data in real-time monitoring applications. This pairing of technologies is enabling heavier payloads to be carried and vast areas to be covered in a single flight, allowing for greater data capture as a result.
Below are some comparisons between fuel cells and other power sources:
Fuel cells vs internal combustion engines
- Clean and zero-emission
- Near silent operation
- Reduced maintenance and no moving parts
Fuel cells vs batteries
- Increased flight time
- Faster refuelling
- Built in power system redundancy
Are there specific industries or applications where you’ve seen particularly strong adoption of Intelligent Energy’s fuel cell solutions?
We see strong adoption in applications where the advantages of fuel cells have the strongest efficiency and capability effects. Key examples are in linear and offshore inspection like windfarm, pipeline and power lines, and ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) in defence, where silence and long range is valuable. There are applications that don’t make sense without the range of fuel cells, such as BVLOS flights that make the range afforded by fuel cells a necessity.
What do you see as the next big breakthroughs for fuel cell technology in UAVs, and how is the company positioning itself for the future?
Lower operational costs than batteries, at volume. More novel ways of storing and creating hydrogen, on-the-move or on-the-drone. These contain engineering challenges that people are trying to solve, and when they do, they will magnify the advantages of hydrogen fuel cells on drones. Examples would be chemical and metal hydrides to store hydrogen and improve portability and logistics, and liquid hydrogen to improve range and flight time. Volume in this market will come from normalisation of commercial drones flying in our skies. Mostly parcel delivery and medical delivery. Our products are currently market leading. Not only when judged by performance metrics, but most importantly robustness and reliability. This is something you only build by having products in the hands of real-world operational customers.
Thank you for your time, it’s always great to talk to Intelligent Energy and we look forward to reporting on the IE-SOAR and your related fuel cell systems.
