Abstract
With the increasing interest in wireless communications from solar-powered aircraft-based high altitude platforms (HAPs), it is imperative to assess the feasibility of their deployment in different locations with the constraints on energy consumption and payload weight under consideration. This paper considers the energy management of solar-powered aircraft-based HAPs for wireless communications service provisioning in equatorial regions and regions further up the northern hemisphere. The total solar energy harvested and consumed on the shortest day of the year is analyzed, and it is explained how this determines the feasibility of long endurance, semi-permanent missions. This takes into account the different aircraft-based HAPs and the energy storage systems currently available, and how these can be deployed for wireless communications. We show that the solar-powered HAPs are energy and weight limited, and this depends largely on the platform’s wingspan available for the deployment of solar collectors. Our analysis show that services can be provided for a duration of 15–24 h/day using current platforms, with wingspans ranging between 25–35 m, depending on the configuration and coverage radius. Furthermore, we show that doubling an aircraft’s wingspan can increase its payload capacity by a factor of 6, which in turn enhances its feasibility for wireless communications.
Highlights
IntroductionThere is a significantly increasing interest in the use of solar-powered high altitude platforms
There is a significantly increasing interest in the use of solar-powered high altitude platformsHAPs for a range of applications including wireless communications, earth observation, environmental monitoring and atmospheric studies [1,2,3,4,5], especially since the first solar-powered aircraft-based HAP was successfully deployed [5]
Solar-powered HAPs use energy harvested by solar cells during the day to maintain flight, while any excess is stored in an energy storage system for night-time
Summary
There is a significantly increasing interest in the use of solar-powered high altitude platforms. For continuous operation throughout the desired mission duration, the energy requirements of the wireless communication subsystem govern how much solar energy is needed to maintain flight and support the payload during the day, and how much solar energy needs to be harvested and stored for night usage. The paper explores the current state-of-the-art in energy storage systems and solar cells needed and investigates whether this is sufficient for future operations. This requires adequate solar energy harvesting and consumption modelling for both platform and payload. Solar-powered HAPs use energy harvested by solar cells during the day to maintain flight, while any excess is stored in an energy storage system for night-time. Different capabilities and configurations of HAPs are needed for operations in different locations considering the latitude dependent solar irradiance
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