Systems and methods for estimating net solar energy production for airborne photovoltaic systems

A computing device for predicting electrical energy production of a photovoltaic system included in an aircraft, said computing device configured to:

• determine a first predicted amount of solar irradiance for each of a plurality of geographical points;
• generate an intensity plot of solar irradiance for each of the plurality of geographical points, including the first predicted amount of solar irradiance for each of the plurality of geographical points;
• generate an intensity map of solar irradiance for a geographic area comprising the plurality of geographic points and based on the plurality of intensity plots;
• generate an animation of the solar irradiance over a flight path based on the plurality of intensity plots for the plurality of geographical points and the intensity map;
• determine a second predicted amount of solar irradiance received by the aircraft along the flight path of the aircraft, wherein the flight path includes a subset of the plurality of geographical points, and wherein the second predicted amount is based at least in part on the first predicted amount;
• and
• determine a predicted amount of electrical energy produced by the photovoltaic system along the flight path, based at least in part on the second predicted amount.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for predicting electrical energy production of a photovoltaic system included in an aircraft, wherein when executed by a computing device having at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the computing device to:

• determine a first predicted amount of solar irradiance for each of a plurality of geographical points;
• generate an intensity plot of solar irradiance for each of the plurality of geographical points, including the first predicted amount of solar irradiance for each of the plurality of geographical points;
• generate an intensity map of solar irradiance for a geographic area comprising the plurality of geographic points and based on the plurality of intensity plots;
• generate an animation of the solar irradiance over a flight path based on the plurality of intensity plots for the plurality of geographical points and the intensity map;
• determine a second predicted amount of solar irradiance received by the aircraft along the flight path of the aircraft, wherein the flight path includes a subset of the plurality of geographical points, and wherein the second predicted amount is based at least in part on the first predicted amount;
• and
• determine a predicted amount of electrical energy produced by the photovoltaic system along the flight path, based at least in part on the second predicted amount.

A method for predicting electrical energy production of a photovoltaic system included in at least one vehicle, said method comprising:

• determining a first predicted amount of solar irradiance for each of a plurality of geographical points;
• generating an intensity plot of solar irradiance for each of the plurality of geographical points, including the first predicted amount of solar irradiance for each of the plurality of geographical points;
• generating an intensity map of solar irradiance for a geographic area comprising the plurality of geographic points and based on the plurality of intensity plots;
• generating an animation of the solar irradiance over a flight path based on the plurality of intensity plots for the plurality of geographical points and the intensity map;
• determining a second predicted amount of solar irradiance received by the at least one vehicle along the flight path of the at least one vehicle, wherein the flight path includes a subset of the plurality of geographical points, and wherein the second predicted amount is based at least in part on the first predicted amount;
• and
• determining a predicted amount of electrical energy produced by the photovoltaic system along the flight path, based at least in part on the second predicted amount.

A computing device for predicting electrical energy production of a photovoltaic system included in a vehicle, said computing device configured to:

• determine a first predicted amount of solar irradiance for each of a plurality of geographical points;
• generate an intensity plot of solar irradiance for each of the plurality of geographical points, including the first predicted amount of solar irradiance for each of the plurality of geographical points;
• generate an intensity map of solar irradiance for a geographic area comprising the plurality of geographic points and based on the plurality of intensity plots;
• generate an animation of the solar irradiance over a flight path based on the plurality of intensity plots for the plurality of geographical points and the intensity map;
• determine a second predicted amount of solar irradiance received by the vehicle along the flight path of the vehicle, wherein the flight path includes a subset of the plurality of geographical points, and wherein the second predicted amount is based at least in part on the first predicted amount;
• and
• determine a predicted amount of electrical energy produced by the photovoltaic system along the flight path, based at least in part on the second predicted amount.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for predicting electrical energy production of a photovoltaic system included in a vehicle, wherein when executed by a computing device having at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the computing device to:

• determine a first predicted amount of solar irradiance for each of a plurality of geographical points;
• generate an intensity plot of solar irradiance for each of the plurality of geographical points, including the first predicted amount of solar irradiance for each of the plurality of geographical points;
• generate an intensity map of solar irradiance for a geographic area comprising the plurality of geographic points and based on the plurality of intensity plots;
• generate an animation of the solar irradiance over a flight path based on the plurality of intensity plots for the plurality of geographical points and the intensity map;
• determine a second predicted amount of solar irradiance received by the vehicle along the flight path of the vehicle, wherein the flight path includes a subset of the plurality of geographical points, and wherein the second predicted amount is based at least in part on the first predicted amount;
• and
• determine a predicted amount of electrical energy produced by the photovoltaic system along the flight path, based at least in part on the second predicted amount.