The Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has registered a patent for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system that enables continuous charging to provide longer flying hours.

Dewa’s Research & Development Centre also wants to improve the efficiency of charging and facilitate the charging process.

The system uses a group of UAVs to charge the main one through electromagnetic induction. This can be used for government, military, commercial and personal operations.

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, CEO of Dewa, praised the researcher’s efforts that have resulted in a system to increase the efficiency of operations that use UAVs. Al Tayer said patents registered by the R&D Centre support efforts to make the centre a global platform for promising technologies. This helped maintain Dewa’s position as one of the best utilities in the world, he said.

“At Dewa, we work to include innovation in our different strategies and initiatives,” said Al Tayer. “We intend Dewa to keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to shape the future and create a knowledge-based, competitive economy that uses innovation and future technologies.”

Waleed Bin Salman, Dewa executive vice president, said the patent supported Dewa’s efforts to increase its UAV operations. These include automatic regular checking of photovoltaic modules at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, said to be the largest single-site solar park in the world using the independent power producer (IPP) model.

Dewa uses UAVs to ensure solar photovoltaic panels are performing well. The charging system enables longer working hours for UAVs. It saves time and effort, increases productivity, and increases the accuracy of maintenance operations.

The patent supports Dewa’s UAV fleet for its Sirb (Arabic for fleet) initiative and provides easier services according to international standards to enhance the happiness of all stakeholders.

“The patent has been developed and tested at Dewa’s lab at the R&D Centre for robots and UAVs,” said Ali Rashid Al Aleeli, vice president for R&D at Dewa. “The lab helped Dewa to achieve the Guinness World Records title for the first 3D-printed laboratory in the world. The lab is the first building in the UAE to be fully printed onsite. The lab houses rovers and drones that are designed and built in-house.”