Solair I and Solair II are two German-designed electric aircraft.
Solair 1
The human piloted Solair I was developed from 1980 by Günther Rochelt - developer of the
Musculair human-powered aircraft series - based on a
Hans Farner canard design.
It employed 2499 wing-mounted solar cells giving an output of between 1.8
kilowatts
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named in honor of ...
(kW), equivalent to approximately 2.4
horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...
(hp), and . The aircraft first flew at
Unterwössen
Unterwössen is a municipality in the district of Traunstein in Bavaria, Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Al ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
on 21 August 1983.
It flew for 5 hours and 41 minutes, "mostly on solar energy and also thermals".
The aircraft is now displayed at the German Museum in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
.
The newly developed piloted Solair II made its first flight in May 1998 and further test flights that summer but the propulsion system overheated too fast.
Development stopped when Günther Rochelt suddenly died in September 1998.
Solair II
The Solair II project began in 1996, and aimed to develop a higher-powered successor aircraft. Modelled on
glider construction, the aircraft has a V-tail tail, and fin headed on each propeller for propulsion. The aircraft was manufactured in half-shells sandwich construction with honeycomb cores. With charged batteries, it required an input of 755 W power for the straight flight.
*Wingspan: 20.00 m, wing area: 17.00 m
2, fuselage length: 6.12 m
*Empty weight: 140 kg
*Maximum take off weight (MTOW): 230 kg
*Solar generator
**Solar cells: 13,44 m
2 Mono-crystalline silicon cells
**Max efficiency: 17.3%
**Max power (radiation 500 W / m
2): 1163 W
*Drive
**2 x permanent magnet DC motor with pusher propeller (1.46 m diameter) in the tail
**Nominal voltage: 30 V each (motors in series connected)
**Max power: 2 × 4500 W
**Used 2 × 4 kW motors with 2-sheet folding propellers (2 m diameter) with pitch after a modification
*Batteries
**Battery type: 54 cells in series 2-4 of battery packs parallel, voltage: 65 V
**Capacity: Max 4 × 5.2 AH 20.8 = Ah, storable energy: Max 1352 WH
See also
*
Musculair
References
Electric aircraft
Canard aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Solar-powered aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1983
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