Solar Impulse 2, the world's largest solar aircraft, is a long-range solar aircraft that can fly continuously day and night without consuming a drop of fuel. The energy required for flight is provided entirely by solar cells. Its wingspan reaches 72 meters, second only to the largest commercial airliner A380 (79.75 meters), but its weight is only about 2,300 kilograms, which is equivalent to a semi-family car.
Large-scale domestic solar drone “Venixing 50” successfully completed its first flight! What are the characteristics of this drone?
The solar-powered plane not only opens up new and inexhaustible sources of energy in the face of the energy crisis, but also does not contain exhaust gases or waste oils and does not cause environmental pollution; has no engine. It roars without any noise pollution; it also has the advantages of a smooth and comfortable flight.table. This is a very promising new type of aircraft.
The first is a large drone with a double fuselage configuration. The dual fuselage configuration is easy to understand. The biggest advantages of this design are its high load capacity and long range, as the twin fuselages can accommodate longer wings. , Venental50 also adopts a modular design, which can quickly disassemble a single machine into two machines, or add body modules. Zephyr, developed by the US military in partnership with Airbus, remains the longest-lived solar-powered drone in the world, with a record 64 days. ?
The second is the high altitude, low speed drone with large aspect ratio. The Venus 50 is the first high-altitude, low-speed drone developed by the aviation industry, the first large-scale drone with a two-body configuration and the prfirst large-scale, fully electric drone powered by solar energy. as the only source of energy. platform. The plane is a “pseudo-satellite” capable of continuous flight at high altitude. It uses efficient, clean, green and environmentally friendly solar energy and can stay in the air for a long time to carry out tasks such as high-altitude reconnaissance, forest fire monitoring, water monitoring. atmospheric environment, geographic cartography and communication relay.
In addition, the flight altitude is in the stratosphere, and the cruising altitude can reach more than 20,000 meters. It can not only enhance existing communication services as an air base station, but also bridge remote blind spots, provide emergency response in sudden disasters, and is a long-distance communication relay inthe army. This time, the Rixing 50 has finally achieved true pure solar power, which is still far behind China's solar drones. Solar drones are therefore relatively powerful aircraft.
What you need to know is that for traditional fuel-hungry aircraft, too much thin air will significantly reduce engine power. Caihong Shiwen, the chief engineer of this series of drones, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that Rainbow solar drones rely on sunlight to provide power to the whole machine and rely on electric propellers for their propulsion. fly several times. In the coming months or more, ultra-high altitude and ultra-long endurance characteristics will enable solar-powered drones to perform well in certain conditions.