Wings for the Planet already has a solar glider :
The Sol.Ex.
An amazing aircraift !
The Sol.Ex.
SOLar EXperimental glider invented and build by Jean-Baptiste Loiselet
Characteristics :
Wingspan..... 13,5m
Empty weight..... 235 kg
Max takeoff weight..... 330 kg
Max speed..... 220 km/h
Glide ratio..... 40
Minimal sink rate..... 0,6 m/s
Engine power..... 22kW
Climb rate..... > 5 m/s
Battery's capacity..... 4,3 kWh
Altitude climb on battery.... 1500m
Electric autonomy..... 1h
Pure soaring autonomy.....
infinite, weather allowing
Building the Sol.Ex. on itself is a great commitment proof : to realize it, Jean-Baptiste left an enthralling senior management job in subsea robotics and thrown away 15 years of savings, hoping they would fly !
The glider is based on the Silent 2 Electro. Its fuselage is identical as the one of a regular Silent 2 as this one was already prepared to have a FES system (electric engine + propeller in the noze, batteries in the rear fuselage behind the pilot’s seat).
The wings however have been tailor-made by Jean-Baptiste helped by the Silent 2 builder team & materials. This to anticipate the further installation of the solar panels. The major constraints were
– make sure the wing would hold temperatures up to 80°C (photovoltaïc cells being dark) which is not the case of a standard aircraft.
– be able to install the solar panels afterward while perfectly respecting the aerodynamic profile.
Building the wings in the Silent 2’s molds. Temperature sensors were put at different places in the structure.
La technique de fabrication et d’intégration des panneaux solaires sur les ailes a été mise au point par Jean-Baptiste. Cette technique permet de fabriquer des panneaux de moins de 1mm d’épaisseur, qui respectent parfaitement les formes à doubles courbures des ailes tout en étant démontables. Un vrai challenge !
A cave has been provided to serve as research and developpement laboratory
The building and integration of the solar panels on the wings were made at the « aéroclub de Saint Rémy les Alpilles » which kindly shared some place in the workshop. We have to thank the club, its members and their advice who allowed to overcome every obstacle. In particular, we’d like to thank : Tano, Vincent, Christophe, Cyril, Brigitte…
The club’s workshop overwhelmed by solar panels molds
A solar wing aside a vintage glider.
Profil check of the wing
Last, Jean-Baptiste did design the electronics which control the solar charge and the batteries.
