We’ve all heard of electric cars that do not require fossil fuels and are therefore much better for the environment than their regular counterparts. We’ve even got solar-powered cars, though they’re not as commercially available or practical yet. That’s on land. We’ve got the same stuff in the air too, apparently. On the thread of eco-transportation, there is also the solar plane, which has been making a lot of progress since its conception.
More specifically, the Solar Impulse HB-SIA completed its first intercontinental flight on June 5th, after flying 19 hours from Madrid, Spain to Rabat Morocco. This Europe-to-Africa trip spanned about 1000 kilometres and included flying at night, and is one of its most notable achievements so far.
The Solar Impulse is a Swiss solar-powered aircraft developed at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausaunne, led by Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg. The first prototype, the HB-SIA, was built from 2006 to 2009. Despite its wingspan of 63.4 metres, it weighs just 1600 kg, which is not much more than the average car. It can fly up to 70 km/h for 36 hours, at an ideal altitude of about 27 900 ft. Not too bad for a solar-powered plane, though not exactly perfect for conventional plane flights, since it can only carry 2000 kg. However, its developers have stated that its purpose is to “create a revolution in the minds of people…to promote solar energies — not necessarily a revolution in aviation.” In that case, their job was successful. Silently propelled by its four electric motors, it certainly is a nice change from the noisy, jet-fuel-smelling airplanes that we’re used to.
Its maiden voyage occurred on June 26th 2009, a “flea-hop” of 350 metres in Dübendorf Switzerland. It was deemed successful, as the controllability and performance of the plane met expectations. Since then, various test flights have been conducted. Its first overnight flight, on July 8th, 2010, was a 26-hour flight that reached 28 500 ft. This flight set records as being the longest and highest ever to have been flown by a manned, solar-powered aircraft.
Its first international flight was May 13th of last year, to Brussels, Belgium. Due to its relatively low cruising speed (50 km/h on average), it flew at a medium height of 6000 ft. The following month, it flew to Paris on its second international voyage, though this trip required two attempts due to weather complications.
This year, shortly before its June 5th flight, it completed yet another first: it flew entirely on solar energy, while charging its own batteries in-flight.
Now that the HB-SIA has been deemed successful, the team is hard at work coming up with another, larger prototype, the HB-SIB, set to be completed by 2013. It will have a huge wingspan of 80 m, and will cruise comfortably at 39 000 ft. Their plans don’t stop there either. Once it’s finished, newer, more ambitious feats will be accomplished. They hope to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and eventually fly around the world.
Though these goals sound kind of pathetic compared to what the average fuel-powered aircraft can do, it’s still an important step towards the widespread use of renewable energy. If humans can fly around in airplanes covered in solar panels, then maybe there’s hope for Earth yet. Maybe.
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