Solar Impulse promises solar powered flight

Solar Impulse

The tests have been increasingly challenging; first a brief flight, then a day flight and then a 26-hour flight which saw the Solar Impulse, a completely solar-powered plane fly through the night.

However the plane's aim is even more daunting - to fly around the world completely on the power of the sun. By flying the Solar Impulse on a 26-hour trip around Switzerland, Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg showed what is possible, and what could be the standard in the future.

Using super-efficient solar cells and batteries, the Solar Impulse reached a height of 8700m (28,543ft) during its flight making it the longest and highest flight recorded by a solar-powered plane.

With over 12,000 solar cells on its massive 63m wingspan, the Solar Impulse was able to collect enough power for the entire flight. However the craft is made of thin carbon fibre, making the flight more experimental than commercial.

The single-seater plane is powered by four electric motors and propellers. It weighs about the same as a small car, despite having a 207 foot wingspan that is comparable to a commercial jet.

First time

Speaking to the press upon the plane's landing after the epic flight, team member Bertrand Piccard said the feat was evidence that a plane can be kept in the air around the clock.

"It's the first time ever that a [manned] solar airplane has flown through the night," Piccard said. "That was the moment that proved the mission was successful, we made it."

The plane emerged from the darkness of night with three hours power remaining in its batteries, more than had been expected.

"Nothing can prevent us from another day and night, and the myth of perpetual flight."

In the US, another solar-powered plane, the Zephyr, is close to completing a constant 14-day flight using only solar energy. The plane has currently been flying for one and a half weeks in the Arizona desert and has already broken a number of world records; at 14:40 BST on Friday, July 23 the plane's total flying time will stand at 14 days.

With commercial air travel being one of the biggest contributors of CO2 in the world, solar powered air flight could be the future.

The UK Energy Saving Trust estimates that a return flight from the UK to Thailand releases almost two tons of CO2 per passenger, giving each passenger a greater carbon footprint than non-flyers' carbon footprints for a year.

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