Aircraft Solar trailer for new and existing trailers
The Pipistrel Taurus Electro is the first mass production electric two seater glider. Thanks to it's powerful electric motor is is fully autonomous providing a short take off and climb to approximately 2000m on a single charge. This is great however one thing is missing for the Taurus Electro or any electric powered glider to be completely self sufficient, Electricity!
The Solar Trailer
The roof of your glider trailer makes for the perfect solar panel installation platform. When on tour your trailer is usually in the sun, so why not take advantage of this to make your own power during the day.
Thanks to the internal battery, when at the airfield during the day, the energy produced is stored whilst you are flying. Upon return in the evening just plug in your glider to the trailer and the energy produced during the day is now used to charge the aircraft. When morning comes your glider is ready to fly again.
The Installation
The Solar trailer installation is comprised of a few main elements. The solar panels, charge regulator, battery and inverter.
Each of these elements can be scaled to meet your requirements. From a small setup to keep your instrument and internal battery charged, to full electric glider charging setup. Many different configurations are possible
Solar Panels
We used ten 160W monocrystalline FLEX panels to provide the power to the system. These panels based on a layer of flexible polymer material on which the solar cells are placed. This makes for a flexible panel which can be fixed to a curved surface like a glider trailer making for a streamlined, aerodynamic and lightweight installation.
Charge regulator
All of our solar charge equipment is made by the Victron company, known around the world as one of the best solar electronics manufacturers. Our Solar regulator or MPPT by Victron ensures the stability of the charge to the battery during all weather conditions.
Battery
A glider trailer must stay light, this increases stability, economy and safety. It is for this reason that we install LG RESU lithium-ion batteries in our systems. These batteries have a great kW/kg ratio compared to traditional gel batteries so are the best choice for a mobile installation. 3.3kW, 6.5kW and 9.8kW versions are available depending on your needs.
Inverter
The solar energy is stored at 48V in the onboard battery. The inverter takes this current and outputs 240V to a domestic socket ready to plug in your glider. Depending our your requirements different sizes of inverter are available. For the Taurus we recommend approximately a 3000W output model.
Control panel
The system is controlled and monitored by the Victron color control unit. This unit connects to all the elements and gives realtime information about the system. It can also be connected to a 4G network so you can monitor your system from a different location.
