In 1999, Bertrand Piccard — Swiss psychiatrist and aeronaut – completed the first non-stop circumnavigation of the Earth in an air balloon. Right after this feat was born his idea for the Solar Impulse project: to create an aircraft that will fly day and night propelled only by solar energy. No fuel, no pollution.
Never before has an airplane run solely on solar power for more than a few hours, let alone day and night. Along with Andre Borschberg – engineer, fighter pilot and professional airplane and helicopter pilot – with this project, Piccard is truly pioneering the spirit for the development of renewable energy resources in aviation.
The first test flight for Solar Impulse HB SIA took place early December in Switzerland. It flew 350 meters down the runway at an altitude of one metre in a flight lasting 28 seconds. Preparation is now in progress for its first 36 hour day-night-day flight which is projected to happen sometime in 2012.
At the upcoming World Future Energy Summit, we are thrilled to have Bertrand Piccard as a key speaker at the Plenary Forum 2 on day 1 of the summit that will be discussing challenges and solutions to the world’s future energy issues. You can read more about the Solar Impulse project on its website and check out more videos on its YouTube channel.
This project sounds really bold!!! I would be curious to know about the technology required to create this type of airplane and the cost implications??
When you think that 30% of global energy use can be easily attributed to transport, you really understand the need to develop green solutions applied to transportation…