The Elektra One Solar has made its first fully-solar flight, in the presence of an international audience at the ILA Berlin Air Show in Germany, demonstrating how a complete, 100 per cent emission-free cycle of solar energy can be used to power an aircraft.
The energy required to power the Elektra One Solar is obtained from solar panels on the wings and fuselage. A solar-powered battery is also installed in the aircraft to ensure back-up energy, which is generated in advance while on the ground as a reliable source of power for the aircraft’s engine in the absence of sunlight.
The complete aircraft is built in carbon fibre (including the flight controls), has an incredible basic empty weight of about 100 kg (without batteries) and flies on 2.5 kW per hour. The electric charging station loads the batteries with 2 kW/hour and the solar cells on the wings provide a further 1 kW/hour.
The development company PC-Aero expects the Elektra One will have an endurance of up to eight hours and a range of more than 800 km. Operating costs are about €35 per hour.