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possibility of going solar

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this may indeed work in theory or it may not but I am thinking of modifying my h pro to use solar power. I found a 12 volt solar panel that would work and a I got a power supply booster to up the voltage from 12 to 14.8. the only question is the amount current needed. the size of the typhoon h going to make it fun to try to make it happen. I have to mod the st16 controller to use solar as well or a more solid power source other than the battery. typhoon g I think is not doable I may be wrong on that. the yuneec tornado has much better chance of the mod working than the h due to size of craft.
 
this may indeed work in theory or it may not but I am thinking of modifying my h pro to use solar power. I found a 12 volt solar panel that would work and a I got a power supply booster to up the voltage from 12 to 14.8. the only question is the amount current needed. the size of the typhoon h going to make it fun to try to make it happen. I have to mod the st16 controller to use solar as well or a more solid power source other than the battery. typhoon g I think is not doable I may be wrong on that. the yuneec tornado has much better chance of the mod working than the h due to size of craft.

Not a chance really. The power required by a typhoon would require a mini solar farm for full conversion, and even putting one on top as a 'boost' alongside the battery wouldn't yield any difference as I suspect the weight of the solar panel and converter would cancel out any extra flight time it produces.
You'd need a steady supply of at least 90Amps to run a typhoon I'd suspect, that's 15amps per motor (a worst case probably at max climb, but you get the idea). Not to mention your power supply booster would need to be capable of providing 1500watts or so, and ohms law states if you have a 100% efficient power supply booster you'd need roughly a 12V 110A solar panel to keep it in the air.
Sorry to crush the dream, but these things take serious power, and in reality it's quite amazing how much flight time you can get out of a small battery like the Typhoon's.
 
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I think a bank of batteries like 12 volt car or lift truck batteries that are maintained with solar panels could be used, then run your battery charger for your copters like you would using a car adapter or inverter? I do not have any actual experience doing this. I would think that you could charge the sUAV batteries at night and let the solar recharge your 12 volt batteries during the day?
 
Interesting idea. Maybe the solar panel on the TH cannot fully power the copter but might extend the flight duration.
 
I have experimented with using an 18 volt 28 watt solar panel to charge lithium polymer batteries for a quadcopter on an extended trip away from electricity. Charging was very slow and only worked if the panel was at the perfect angle facing the sun. The weight of the panel was obviously more than the quad could lift and even if it could lift it, the gain in power would not be enough to matter. The surface are of the panel was way more than the top of the quad. Even if it could be mounted, it would act like a sail in the wind and there would be no way to keep it aligned with the sun. You can get an idea of the size in the attached image.
 

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The other concern would be the possible negative effect on the GPS card mounted under the top cover. Would the few extra minutes be worth the risk of losing the H due to loss of control of the H.
 
You will lose use of GPS if you put anything over the antenna. You can test that by simply placing your hand over it. It requires very little to block a GPS signal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
With all due respect, this is a complete and utter non starter in anyway shape nor form.
 
this may indeed work in theory

Almost anything will work in theory if you adjust the theory enough. I'll be the first to admit it's an interesting post, even if it was tongue-in-cheek.
IF solar conversion were 100%, and IF the panels were weightless, and IF the Sun were bright enough to BBQ us...it still ain't gonna work.:oops:
 
One has to figure if corporate aerospace hasn't bothered with building solar powered aircraft it's not worth the attempt. You need a massive amount of solar cell area to provide the electrical generation necessary to power an electric aircraft. A review of all the aircraft designed around solar power to date provides an easy visual of that amount by looking at the wing spans. They are all massive for the light weight of the aircraft, and speed is very limited.
 
Solar cells would have to be much more efficient, and I'm surprised that they're not increasing in efficiency more rapidly.

As for corporate aerospace not making solar powered commercial craft, the weight concern is paramount, not only of the craft itself, but the passengers. Drones do not have either concern, and so the cells can be smaller. However, they do have to be much more efficient than they are now, so they can be smaller.

This looks like a job for Tesla.
 
While nice, technically that's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for onboard solar cells that are able to supply constant power to the motors, without the aid of gas or batteries.
 
While nice, technically that's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for onboard solar cells that are able to supply constant power to the motors, without the aid of gas or batteries.


I sincerely hope they exist as from tomorrow.
That would be a giant leap for the environment, about 60.000% gain (this being a rough and not at all scientific estimate) in efficiency is needed for solar cells to sustain the power consumption of the H and not weighing more then H can carry as an extra.....

;)
 

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