Saw this strange quad-rotor type setup being worked on at the club here.

So the idea is not a self stabilizing quad-rotor setup which many college students are trying to build, instead this is just a simple setup of 4 separate helis tethered together, and controlled from a single transmitter.  Big solar panels will be attached to the frame, and the idea is to achieve flying times of many hours (I guess a lipo powered TX can handle the duration on that side).

They were mentioning that it is underpowered (4 LAMAs and all that aluminium!), so some changes are due (either changing the frame or upgrading the helis to something more powerful).  They do need the frame to be this size, to place the solar panels they have already sourced.

Anyways, it was interesting to see the different types of activities youngsters are doing here.

Cool and simple idea  . I struggle to keep one heli in hover mode  . 4 heli's hmm definitely not for someone like me  . It would be nice to see it hover . 

They were trying it without any gyros and mixing, and ran into lots of issues (as I heard lately).  So a significant redesign is going on now.

Nice try Please Update

I was just wondering if the Sunlight/square inch has enough intensity to lift the weight of a solar panel and the whole frame?? Even considering 100% efficiency out of the solar panel!?

A solar plane is totally a different thing. In a plane they consider Aerofoil design, wind speed, large wing area etc. And even if the props turn slowly the plane can glide.

But in a Heli, its a totally different thing. Huge power is required to lift the Airframe. And what I was wondering was if light received per sq/inch from the sun has that much power in the first place even before conversion to electricity.

Or they may be considering mixing batery power and solar power to maximize the flight duration got from that battery. >