Elektra One Solar – A Light Aircraft with Solar Wings

Most solar aircraft on our site are giant experimental wings like Helios or Solar Impulse. The Elektra One is different: a small, single-seat sport aircraft that a private pilot could actually own. Its designer, Calin Gologan of the German company PC-Aero, wanted to show that personal flying can be electric and solar-charged.

The Elektra One first flew on 21 March 2011, using about 3 kW in cruise. The carbon-fibre aircraft has an empty weight of only about 100 kg, a wingspan of 8.6 m and an endurance of about three hours. In 2011 it won the Lindbergh electric aircraft prize at the EAA AirVenture show in Oshkosh. The original concept was to charge it from solar hangars, with the surplus fed into the grid. It was developed with support from Solar Hangar and SolarWorld.

The next step was the Elektra One Solar. Together with the prototype specialists of Neowings and engineering students from the University of Augsburg, Gologan put solar cells on the upper surfaces of the wings, the tailplane and the fuselage. According to the designer, they can provide up to 50% of the energy, giving a range of up to about 1,000 km (540 nautical miles). Parked in the sun, the plane can recharge a fully drained battery in about two hours. Its 22 hp (16 kW) motor allows cruise speeds of up to 100 knots, and with the engine off it glides at a ratio of about 30:1. By April 2012 the prototype had logged about 20 flight hours.

The registration D-MELN seen in both photos shows it is the same aircraft, flying under the PC-Aero name in 2012 and as an Elektra Solar aircraft in 2024. For the story of the first person ever to fly on solar power, see the Solar Riser.

Technical data

Photos

• Top photo: André Gerwing / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• The Elektra One Solar D-MELN in 2024, now under the Elektra… Photo: André Gerwing / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sources

• Wikipedia: PC-Aero Elektra One
• AOPA: PC-Aero goes solar (2012)
• Military Aerospace: Elektra One debut at Oshkosh 2011