Solar powered aircraft
Global warming from aircraftAviation accounts for about 2 percent of human generated global CO2 and about 3 percent of global warming. By 2050 this is predicted to rise to 3 and 5%. The solutions being worked on in these pages are: Efficiency of engines and aircraft design Biofuels Electric powered aircraft. Solar powered aircraftWhile solar-powered, commercial flights may be a distant dream, the use of the technology for unmanned surveillance, research, and telecommunications aircraft may be close to reality. ref |
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Solar aircraft history1974 AstroFlight SunriseThe first unmanned solar aircraft was AstroFlight Sunrise at Bicycle Lake, USA. 1979 Solar RiserFirst man carrying flight was Mauro Solar Riser built by Larry Mauro and was based on the UFM Easy Riser biplane hang glider. 350 watts of photovoltaic cells were on the top wing. The pilot could power his craft for up to 5 minutes between charges. It was enough that a pilot could use the engine to take off, catch a thermal, shut the engine off while it recharged. 1981 Gossamer PenguinThe Gossamer Penguin was a solar version of the gossamer albatross that had been powered by a human pedalling. Solar Challengerwith a maximum power of 2.5 kW, succeeded in crossing the English Channel in 1981. Next were flights of several hundred kilometers with an endurance of several hours. It reached 14,300 feet. 1983 Solair 1In Europe, Günter Rochelt produced Solair 1 fitted with 2500 photovoltaic cells, generating up to 2.2kW. Solair 1 - D-MXOL |
Solar Riser Solar Challenger |
2001 NASA Helios pathfinderThe Helios Prototype aircraft was a proof-of-concept solar electric-powered flying wing designed to operate at high altitudes for long duration flight. Part of a family of aircraft under the umbrella of ERAST (Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology), Helios was the culmination of the group’s solar-powered aircraft that, in August, 2001, reached an official world record altitude for a non-rocket powered aircraft, of 96,863 feet during a maximum-altitude flight. On 26 Jun 2003 the aircraft was making the second in a series of shakedown flights leading toward a planned 40-hour long-endurance mission, when the aircraft broke apart in flight. The lightweight, highly flexible flying wing took off at 10:06 a.m. local time. About 16 minutes into the flight the aircraft encountered atmospheric turbulence causing abnormally high wing dihedral (upward bowing of both wingtips). Unobserved mild pitch oscillations began, but quickly diminished. Thirty minutes into the flight the aircraft again encountered normal turbulence and then experienced an unexpected, persistent high wing dihedral configuration. As a result, the aircraft became unstable as pitch oscillations grew. Airspeed deviated from the normal flight speed, and the deviations grew with every cycle of the oscillation, soon exceeding the aircraft’s design speed. The resulting high dynamic pressures caused the wing’s outer wing panels to fail and the solar cells and skin on the upper surface to rip off. The report is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/64317main_helios.pdf |
Helios |
1990 SunseekerSunseeker 2 is the second version of the craft that made twenty one flights and spent a hundred and twenty one hours in the air during 1990.
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1994 SoaringSoaring was built in China of carbon fibre
1996 Icaré IIBuilt by the institute of aircraft design (Institut für Flugzeugbau) at University of Stuttgart. 2005Alan Cocconi, flew an unmanned airplane for 48 hours non-stop, propelled entirely by solar energy. This was the first such around-the-clock flight, on energy stored in the batteries mounted on the plane |
Soaring
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2009 Solar ImpulseSolar impulse is a solar powered plane with batteries. managed to fly through the night with a pilot on board. The team plans to make solar impulse the first solar plane to fly around the world. |
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The future - sometimeOdysseus: Aurora's radical, unlimited endurance, solar powered aircraft is planned to fly for 5 years non stop. |
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Solar powered airshipSolar Flight plans to circumnavigate the globe using only solar energy. (They are the oranisation producing Sunseeker.) Their Sunship is an airship with helium holding the mass of teh aircraft, and solar pushing it through the air. It is designed to carry 3 people at lower altitudes, 2 people to medium altitudes, and one person at high altitudes. The Sunship should be able to break the current altitude record for airships of 24,000 ft. Website |
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Solar powered aircraft http://www.energy-without-carbon.org/SolarPoweredAircraft Battery powered aircraft http://www.energy-without-carbon.org/BatteryPoweredAircraft Hybrid electric aircraft http://www.energy-without-carbon.org/hybridElectricAircraft Fuel cell aircraft http://www.energy-without-carbon.org/FuelCellAircraft Future aircraft http://www.energy-without-carbon.org/FutureAircraft Bio fuels http://www.energy-without-carbon.org/OilAndAircraftFuelFromPlants |
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