What devices (with no moving parts!) are available that can heat air using only electricity and electronics???

Question

I need to find a way of heating large volumes of rapidly moving air (wind) quickly, so as to create an artificial thermal that preceeds below an aerofoil wing for the generation of lift. What device can I use to heat the surrounding air effectively enough to create a thermal, that has no moving parts at all, and that can be interfaced with a solar panel??

Answer 1

You're up against a heat transfer problem.
* A wing requires laminar flow. - (SMOOTH surface).
* Heating the the boundary layer of air beneath
the wing would create lift.
(It needn't be too large a volume either).
* Getting that smooth under-wing surface hot
enough to provide any measurable lift is impractical.
* You won't get anywhere near the energy required
from a wing sized solar panel.
(Trust me , it's been thought of, not with solar, but
as to efficient disposal of waste heat from other sources.)

Answer 2

Best bet is to find a nice handy mountain somewhere with a really warm valley.

You want to place a heater under the wing of your aircraft so that it can ride artificial thermals? I'm not an engineer, but I think you won't find anything that would effeciently heat enough air to support the weight of your craft while you are constantly on the move through cold air.
It's like the "chickens in the truck" example, but with a couple extra dimensions. ...You could always set your plane on fire. It might work for a second or two, but by then you would run out of wing.
The perfect answer is that you should consider a hot air balloon.

(What you actually want is a jet engine, but that might be too complex, what with the no moving parts rule there.)

Answer 3

All heating devices as heating coils, heating pads, etc have no moving parts and just use electricity,

Answer 4

charcoal for sauna