Solar powered cells can power a rc helicopter???

Question

I want to make a solar powered helicopter all from scratch. Can this be done and how can I do it a link would help or a link on what I will need to make a helicopter and where can i go get it. Last, how can i make it go very fast. Please and Thank you...

Answer 1

It is not possible... the solar panels can not absorb enough energey to lift that much weight. However, you could probably attach one to have the solar panel recharge the rechargable battery on the rc helicopter, but I think thatll just break even from the amount of weight the panel and wires are for a small recharge on the battery... so overall its useless to have. Maybe nice looking to have on?

Oh yea, I know cause someone tried it and I was looking at him and laughing everytime he crashes and the connectors for electricity disconnected.

Answer 2

I be honest I'm not an engineer or hobbyist, so really you might be better off talking to one of them, but here's what I know about solar cells and flight. I don't think that this is a good project, there are a few solar powered airplanes out there but they have huge wing spans (27+ feet) and not a lot else making  them giant gliders powered by small electric motors. These are built by corporations and universities who have deep pockets and lots of engineering experience.  Solar panels do not produce a lot of energy per square foot so a RC helicopter would have to have a huge surface area to collect energy, further complicating the matter would be the fact that you'd have to position the panels under the rotors which would mean as your helicopter was running your panels would be in constant shade. Finally batteries are a poor storage medium and helicopters are not efficient users of energy being as you have to push enough air down to create lift, so I think you'd run into a big weight to lift issues with a solar powered helicopter.  If your really interested in a project like this my recommendation would be to find one of the little RC battery copters that you can run indoors and see about making a solar panel that could charge it. That'd give you a good idea of both the workings of solar panels and of helicopters then as you became more experienced you could try new and different projects. Good Luck!