The challenges of miniaturization solar plane
Mohammad Vaezi,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.
Abstract
In many aerial vehicles applications, the flight duration is a key factor for the success of a mission. A solution to improve significantly this endurance is the use of solar energy. This chapter presents a conceptual design methodology for the sizing of solar-powered airplanes, applicable to MAVs as well as to manned sailplanes, that optimizes the sizing of the different elements. It uses mathematical models, for weight prediction for example, that were studied on a very large range. This allows to clearly point out the problems that occur when scaling down solar MAVs.
Keywords : air transport, endurance, solar aircraft, solar energy.
Pour citer cet article
Mohammad Vaezi, «The challenges of miniaturization solar plane», Bulletin de la Société Royale des Sciences de Liège [En ligne], Volume 85 - Année 2016, Actes de colloques, Special edition, 863 - 878 URL : https://popups.uliege.be/0037-9565/index.php?id=5703.