Numerical Studies of the Solar Panels Effect on the Wing Aerodynamic Characteristics

Aeronautical and Space-Rocket Engineering


Аuthors

Pavlenko O. V.1*, Vinogradov O. N.1**, Trinh T. N.2***, Belousov I. Y.3, Kornushenko A. V.1

1. Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after N.E. Zhukovsky (TsAGI), 1, Zhukovsky str., Zhukovsky, Moscow Region, 140180, Russia
2. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (National Research University), 9, Institutskiy per., Dolgoprudny, Moscow region, 141701, Russia
3. Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after N.E. Zhukovsky (TsAGI), Zhukovsky, Moscow region, Russia

*e-mail: olga.v.pavlenko@yandex.ru
**e-mail: oleg.vinogradov@tsagi.ru
***e-mail: trinhngocthang7488131215@gmail.com

Abstract

Solar panels are being employed in many areas of human activities. Solar battery incorporates several conjoined photovoltaic solar cells, i.e. semiconductor devices that convert solar energy into direct electric current. Solar panels are being applied most actively in the space sector, for artificial satellites energy supplying. With the batteries efficiency increase, it became possible to install solar panels on the aircraft. As of today, the long-range aircraft with solar-powered electric motors have already been created in various countries, and research works is underway to their improvement.
To obtain maximum amount of solar energy, all surfaces of the aircraft are utilized for the solar panels installing, which results in the possibility of reaching relative mass of batteries up to the 25% of the aircraft weight. Thus, the aircraft with low power consumption, low flight speeds, high aerodynamic quality, large wing aspect ratio with a large required area and, at that, low loading, are economically effective.
Solar panels are of a rectangular shape and fixed standard sizes, so while their installation, the upper convex surface of the wing acquires facets of a structured roughness kind of several hundred microns high. To study the effect of such roughness formed by solar panels on the wing aerodynamic characteristics, numerical studies were conducted.
Numerical studies of the solar panels effect on the wing aerodynamic characteristics were performed on a wing compartment with a high-bearing profile, both without the panels and with them in the 2D and 3D problem formulation. A structured computational grid with 10 panels was built for the wing profile, and with 70 panels for the wing compartment. To increase the wing aspect ratio of λ = 1.5, the planes of symmetry were set along the edges of the wing, and thus the aspect ratio of the computed wing was of λ = 4.5.
Computation was accomplished at the altitude of H = 7500 m in the angles of attack range of –5° ≤ α ≤ 20х with M = 0.0452 and Re = 0.4х106.
The results of numerical studies revealed that solar panels have exerted both positive and negative effects on the wing flow-around. The wing drag increase, aerodynamic quality decrease and friction increase belong to the negative effects of the solar panels. The positive effects are as follows:
- the increase in the maximum lift and the critical angle of attack;
- rarefaction increase on the upper surface of the wing, depending on the angle of attack;
- the wing boundary layer turbulization, which creates more favorable flow-around conditions by shifting the downstream point of separation, which contributes to the flow separation delaying to the large angles of attack.
While numerical study, the most correct results are obtained by solving only a 3D problem that accounts for the interference of solar panels and the wing. The solar panels on the wing surface create a volumetric roughness that affects the structure of the surface boundary layer, flow rates near the wing wall and pressure, which is almost impossible to determine only in one wing section with a 2D problem.

Keywords:

solar panels, wing aerodynamic characteristics, CFD methods

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