H3X claims it’s tripled the power density of electric aircraft motors
The H3X electric motor design delivers up to three times the power per kilogram of existing motors on the market, offering serious weight savings for aircraft manufacturers.
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Tau.Neutrino said:
H3X claims it’s tripled the power density of electric aircraft motorsThe H3X electric motor design delivers up to three times the power per kilogram of existing motors on the market, offering serious weight savings for aircraft manufacturers.
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I wonder if you could recharge them on the fly, solar panels on the craft or a turbine that is spun by airflow
Cymek said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
H3X claims it’s tripled the power density of electric aircraft motorsThe H3X electric motor design delivers up to three times the power per kilogram of existing motors on the market, offering serious weight savings for aircraft manufacturers.
more…
I wonder if you could recharge them on the fly, solar panels on the craft or a turbine that is spun by airflow
Solar panels could one day be integrated into the fuselage along with storage, this is planned for cars as well.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Cymek said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
H3X claims it’s tripled the power density of electric aircraft motorsThe H3X electric motor design delivers up to three times the power per kilogram of existing motors on the market, offering serious weight savings for aircraft manufacturers.
more…
I wonder if you could recharge them on the fly, solar panels on the craft or a turbine that is spun by airflow
Solar panels could one day be integrated into the fuselage along with storage, this is planned for cars as well.
It would be fantastic if they could be self sufficient without the need for external charging
Cymek said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Cymek said:I wonder if you could recharge them on the fly, solar panels on the craft or a turbine that is spun by airflow
Solar panels could one day be integrated into the fuselage along with storage, this is planned for cars as well.
It would be fantastic if they could be self sufficient without the need for external charging
Solar panels are orders of magnitude away from being able to power these things on the fly (sic).
Cymek said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Cymek said:I wonder if you could recharge them on the fly, solar panels on the craft or a turbine that is spun by airflow
Solar panels could one day be integrated into the fuselage along with storage, this is planned for cars as well.
It would be fantastic if they could be self sufficient without the need for external charging
Solar panels will need to be as efficient as they can be, but solar for cars is not efficient enough yet along with weight requirements etc
Taking in cloudy days etc external charging will be around for quite a while.
Wind turbines on planes would produce drag
Tau.Neutrino said:
Cymek said:
Tau.Neutrino said:Solar panels could one day be integrated into the fuselage along with storage, this is planned for cars as well.
It would be fantastic if they could be self sufficient without the need for external charging
Solar panels will need to be as efficient as they can be, but solar for cars is not efficient enough yet along with weight requirements etc
Taking in cloudy days etc external charging will be around for quite a while.
Wind turbines on planes would produce drag
very astute observation^ that last chuckle
I guess you could see the propellers that propel a plane as having negative drag, but i’m new to aviation
sibeen said:
Cymek said:
Tau.Neutrino said:Solar panels could one day be integrated into the fuselage along with storage, this is planned for cars as well.
It would be fantastic if they could be self sufficient without the need for external charging
Solar panels are orders of magnitude away from being able to power these things on the fly (sic).
Yes I thought as much
sibeen said:
Cymek said:
Tau.Neutrino said:Solar panels could one day be integrated into the fuselage along with storage, this is planned for cars as well.
It would be fantastic if they could be self sufficient without the need for external charging
Solar panels are orders of magnitude away from being able to power these things on the fly (sic).
Just think, if you had a wind turbine charging the batteries while in flight you could keep aloft forever.
Zinc
Being light is one of the key requirements along with efficiency.
There have been experiments using paint as solar capture, think of something as light or lighter than carbon fibre with storage built into the frame of the car or plane, the paint acting as energy capture would transfer it directly into the frame for storage.
Something like that.
.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Being light is one of the key requirements along with efficiency.There have been experiments using paint as solar capture, think of something as light or lighter than carbon fibre with storage built into the frame of the car or plane, the paint acting as energy capture would transfer it directly into the frame for storage.
Something like that.
.
I love you man but maybe do some BOTE calcs.
Under the best conditions, the total power of sunlight, directly overhead on a sunny day, on a Boeing 737 would be about 160 kW. Coat this thing in absolutely schmicko expensive photovoltaics and you might end up getting 50 kW electrical power.
Under nice cruise conditions a Boeing 737 needs about 10 MW to fly, ie about 10000 kW.
dv said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Being light is one of the key requirements along with efficiency.There have been experiments using paint as solar capture, think of something as light or lighter than carbon fibre with storage built into the frame of the car or plane, the paint acting as energy capture would transfer it directly into the frame for storage.
Something like that.
.
I love you man but maybe do some BOTE calcs.
Under the best conditions, the total power of sunlight, directly overhead on a sunny day, on a Boeing 737 would be about 160 kW. Coat this thing in absolutely schmicko expensive photovoltaics and you might end up getting 50 kW electrical power.
Under nice cruise conditions a Boeing 737 needs about 10 MW to fly, ie about 10000 kW.
Safe so say its a long way into the future..
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Impulse
Tau.Neutrino said:
dv said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Being light is one of the key requirements along with efficiency.There have been experiments using paint as solar capture, think of something as light or lighter than carbon fibre with storage built into the frame of the car or plane, the paint acting as energy capture would transfer it directly into the frame for storage.
Something like that.
.
I love you man but maybe do some BOTE calcs.
Under the best conditions, the total power of sunlight, directly overhead on a sunny day, on a Boeing 737 would be about 160 kW. Coat this thing in absolutely schmicko expensive photovoltaics and you might end up getting 50 kW electrical power.
Under nice cruise conditions a Boeing 737 needs about 10 MW to fly, ie about 10000 kW.
Safe so say its a long way into the future..
There are theoretical limits on the efficiency of solar panels. DV’s BOTE basically used the theoretical maximum. It ain’t getting any better.
Tau.Neutrino said:
dv said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Being light is one of the key requirements along with efficiency.There have been experiments using paint as solar capture, think of something as light or lighter than carbon fibre with storage built into the frame of the car or plane, the paint acting as energy capture would transfer it directly into the frame for storage.
Something like that.
.
I love you man but maybe do some BOTE calcs.
Under the best conditions, the total power of sunlight, directly overhead on a sunny day, on a Boeing 737 would be about 160 kW. Coat this thing in absolutely schmicko expensive photovoltaics and you might end up getting 50 kW electrical power.
Under nice cruise conditions a Boeing 737 needs about 10 MW to fly, ie about 10000 kW.
Safe so say its a long way into the future..
It’s really not.
sibeen said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
dv said:I love you man but maybe do some BOTE calcs.
Under the best conditions, the total power of sunlight, directly overhead on a sunny day, on a Boeing 737 would be about 160 kW. Coat this thing in absolutely schmicko expensive photovoltaics and you might end up getting 50 kW electrical power.
Under nice cruise conditions a Boeing 737 needs about 10 MW to fly, ie about 10000 kW.
Safe so say its a long way into the future..
There are theoretical limits on the efficiency of solar panels. DV’s BOTE basically used the theoretical maximum. It ain’t getting any better.
I mean even if you could magically get 100% it’s still about 1.6% of requirements…
The electric motors are a much lesser problem than the performance & mass of the batteries required.
But as the planes get larger, the problem of being able to make enough thrust from any kind of electric motor gets increasingly difficult. For example one of the 747’s that I used to fly made about 54 mW total on takeoff, and maybe about 70% to 80% of that when cruising.
Also, FWIW, SUNSEEKER DUO first powered flights
That’s a solar-charged electric RC glider. Such aircraft are very efficient so even the small amount of solar panels is enough to let them fly all day.
I can/t imagine a solar powered aeroplane would look even remotely like a conventional one. The layout would have to be totally rethought and redesigned, with a large surface area to function as both wings and solar collectors. Perhaps a flattened out version of an airship or something like that.
party_pants said:
I can/t imagine a solar powered aeroplane would look even remotely like a conventional one. The layout would have to be totally rethought and redesigned, with a large surface area to function as both wings and solar collectors. Perhaps a flattened out version of an airship or something like that.
It’ll never happen for a manned aircraft; solar panels make too little power for what’s needed.
Spiny Norman said:
party_pants said:
I can/t imagine a solar powered aeroplane would look even remotely like a conventional one. The layout would have to be totally rethought and redesigned, with a large surface area to function as both wings and solar collectors. Perhaps a flattened out version of an airship or something like that.
It’ll never happen for a manned aircraft; solar panels make too little power for what’s needed.
Spiny Norman said:
The electric motors are a much lesser problem than the performance & mass of the batteries required.
But as the planes get larger, the problem of being able to make enough thrust from any kind of electric motor gets increasingly difficult. For example one of the 747’s that I used to fly made about 54 mW total on takeoff, and maybe about 70% to 80% of that when cruising.Also, FWIW, SUNSEEKER DUO first powered flights
That’s a solar-charged electric RC glider. Such aircraft are very efficient so even the small amount of solar panels is enough to let them fly all day.
Ta. That’s interesting on both counts.