RC India

Hey guys,

pva models designed a solar aircraft for a college project. its almost complete. this is a UAV which runs on solar panels and trying to find out if it could charge the battery while motor is on halt.. hope it does well. few pictures of the model are uploaded. your feedback and suggestions are appreciated as this is a lil different than the other projects. first time working on a solar UAV.

specs are as follows:

wing span:  70 inches

fuselage: 36 inches

weight: 1.5 - 2kg

solar panel: 200mah-3v(6) (need more though)

motor: emax-2218

prop: 10-6 folding prop

esc: 40amp

lipo: 2200mah-20c

12v cam= 2x zoom self record

drop tank will be attached soon on to the model

regards,
Pradeep V

i tried this kind of stuff before. solar sheets are there which can be imported from aliexpress or alibaba. they come in square inches. but the amount of current they generate wont be sufficient at all for 40 amps of take off thrust or 20-25 amps of cruise thrust you require to fly the plane. more over they are quite  heavy and will increase the weight of the airframe.

true sujith,  in fact got these panels locally in the market and it powered up..as u said about the weight factor.. yesss it increases way above. the wing span composites to the payload as the wing loading will be on a higher side.... will do the test flight by next weekend...and post some pics and videos tooo..:D

Why not make a Zeppelin, Solar powered ?
Otherwise 2 days of charging(Av. 9 Hrs/Day effective) results in  4.5 min of motoring at 20 Amps neglecting all losses.
In fact MPPT Charge controller (Micro Edition) required for good charging.

I have serious doubts that with such a 'Nitro' wing area, even if you put the best and  lightest Solar panels, it would serve any purpose of actually charging the Battery, let alone directly powering the motors. Yes! you can leave the plane in the sun for the whole day to charge the batteries and fly by Tea time

Yes, Ujjwanna Sir,
During flight if this not used, why mount on Plane and make it heavy ?
For direct Solar driving, the one and only solution is printed Solar cell directly on Wing.
Again, it can only be manufactured by Semiconductor Lab/Industry with large CVD unit.

thanks kalyan and ujjj..for the input.. there are 2 batteries on board one is 1800 mah and other is 2200 for the motor drive... now the 1800mah(stand by will get charged in flight). now once the motor is completely comes to an halt there is a charge controller actuator which will charge the 2200mah battery till this glides ... hope this works out.. keeping my finger crossed.

hey few more pics on first flight of SKY HAWK BA2H PROTOTYPE

@ pradeep :bow: beautiful creation flying...! {:)} {:)} {:)}

thank you alok :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Pradeepji.. great idea.. and great realization.. a simple cange over circuit reengaes the second battery for gliding.. good to see..  :hatsoff: :hatsoff: :hatsoff:

Thank you roopeshji... i was amazed to see when the model went into gliding mode and started charging.... was an amazing feeling...:) :thumbsup:

feels the excitement..  :thumbsup: {:)}

heheheh indeed sir.. was lil windy tooo but was a beautiful flight.. had few very good test runs...:)