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Old 21st Dec 2012, 15:59
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MurphyWasRight
 
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To get even a rough idea of any savings you need to factor in:

A: Power produced by cells (Amps * Volts for the Ohmically challenged)
This should include factors for sun angle VS aircraft flight lattititude,
very poor sun angle near the poles even in summer.

Good news is that for long haul flights most of the time you will be above the clouds.
Bad news is that a lot of flights are in darkness at least part of the time.

B: Conversion efficiency of cells output to aircraft power rails.

C:Actual fuel consumption reduction from offloading the generators.

D: Added weight of cells/converter/interface circuits and resulting increased fuel burn. This is likely to be a major issue since you will be hauling the extra weight whether or not the cells are producing power.

I don't think specifically targetting cabin ligths make sense since they are
needed more at night and run from common power busses anyway.

While I suspect that the results will be that this is not practical for a couple of reasons a well done analysis of the factors should make for a good project.

Last edited by MurphyWasRight; 21st Dec 2012 at 16:02.
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