Verification of energy model of solar-powered UAV using virtual flight evaluation

In this paper, using the virtual flight evaluation system, the verification of energy model of a solar-powered UAV considering the flight motion is conducted. The energy sources of a solar-powered UAV are the solar energy and rechargeable batteries. The acquired energy of solar-powered UAV is determined by the sun position and the attitude of a UAV. Therefore, the energy acquisition and consumption model of a solar-powered UAV is presented. For the virtual flight experiment, the state of charge of the battery is measured using the electronic load instrument. Also, the virtual flight experiment was carried out using the ground testbed for about 27 hours. The virtual flight system is composed of the measurement system, propulsion system, power system and wings covered with solar cells. To verify the energy model of a solar-powered UAV, the experimental result was compared and analyzed with the simulation.