Solar UAVs—More Aerodynamic Efficiency or More Electrical Power?
Author:
Dinca Liviu1, Corcau Jenica-Ileana1ORCID, Voinea Daniel-Gabriel1
Affiliation:
1. Department of Electrical, Energetic and Aerospace Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Craiova, 200585 Craiova, Romania
Abstract
Solar UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) have experienced important development in recent years. The use of solar free energy is not neglected in the present energy crisis, with the intention to move toward green energies. However, an important problem arises concerning the limited amount of solar energy available on board UAVs. Until now, high-aerodynamic-efficiency configurations have been used. These configurations use high-aspect-ratio wings. However, high-aspect-ratio wings have some disadvantages regarding their excessive elasticity and weak bending resistance in the housing section. Additionally, the aircraft maneuverability is reduced. In this work, a study is proposed on a solar UAV configuration that sacrifices high aerodynamic efficiency for a higher surface area available for solar cells. In this manner, the amount of energy available on board the UAV is increased, and the UAV structure becomes more rigid and robust. The presented UAV fits better with more complex evolutions, is more maneuverable and the wingspan is much reduced. This UAV is more compact, can maneuver better in the take-off and landing phases, and the necessary storage space is considerably reduced. This paper highlights the performances that can be achieved using this kind of UAV and explores whether these performances are enough for some applications. Using an on-board energy balance, the possible performances of this new configuration is studied. As this is a preliminary study, the precision level is not very high, but it offers an image concerning the possibilities of this new configuration.
Funder
Internal Research Program of the Electrical, Energetic and Aerospace Engineering Department, financed by the University of Craiova
Subject
Energy (miscellaneous),Energy Engineering and Power Technology,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment,Electrical and Electronic Engineering,Control and Optimization,Engineering (miscellaneous),Building and Construction
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