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Old 08-14-2012, 06:43 PM   #31 (permalink)
aerohead
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PVs

Quote:
Originally Posted by examorph View Post
wow thank you for the great paper!

Now that I am looking at cars such as the NUNA and Honda dream 2 I am starting to wonder, is the large surface area needed if the car is not using solar panel's, would reducing this area give an even lower CD? I ask because although the car I am designing is ran from an electric motor, solar panels or any additional power supply to the car battery is not allowed.
If you remove the photovoltaic arrays,these cars resemble Paul Jaray's 'pumpkin seed' of 1921 or wing sections.Jaray's car was resurrected by AeroVironment for the GM Sunraycer of 1987.With wheel fairings,Sunraycer produced Cd 0.089 as a wind tunnel scale model.With removal of the PV array,the wetted area of the car would be reduced,cutting skin friction drag for lower overall drag.

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