Solar Plane

The need for sustainable aviation is greater than ever.  The Stanford Solar Airplane Project gives students hands-on experience building a record breaking solar powered electric airplane with the eventual goal of flying, continuously and autonomously, coast to coast in the US.  This ambitious goal will require ambitious students to design, prototype, and test multiple prototypes at multiple stages of the engineering process.

The project is divided into three milestones: avionics testbed, aerodynamic scale model, and final full-scale model.  The current, ambitious, timeline is to fly the avionics and aerodynamic models in winter 2023, and to fly the final full-scale model at the end of spring 2023.  This is a very short timeline for a very complex problem.  Students will need to be highly motivated, organized, decisive, deliberate, and executing.

The final airplane will be entirely solar powered, fully autonomous, and highly robust.  A preliminary estimate indicates a wingspan of 200 inches.  The aircraft will be designed from scratch by students.  The high aspect ratio wings will be made of carbon fiber laminates.

The avionics will be tightly integrated with the airframe and comprehensive, recording and submitting telemetry via satellite, 4G, or long range radio.  The control system will be advanced, allowing crews to operate the aircraft safely for long periods of time.  Mission Control displays will show telemetry data, controls, weather, and other mission data.  These systems and others will be designed by students and reviewed by professors and other industry leaders.

Students will have the opportunity to undergo a rigorous engineering program experience from ideation to design review to construction and testing.  The process will be thoroughly reviewed and documented giving students critical skills in academic writing and presentation.  It is expected that students who participate in the program will be acquainted with and educated on a large number of skills required for work in the aerospace and other related industries.  Students will network with professors, companies, and other engineers making important connections and contributions with this research.  Students will have made a meaningful impact on the future of aviation and sustainability.