Plans for the world's first solar-powered round-the-world flight moved a step closer to reality last week with the unveiling of a prototype of giant solar powered plane, which its designers say will be able to fly both day or night without releasing any carbon emissions.
The Solar Impulse project, which is headed by Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard, unveiled the HB-SIA solar plane at Dübendorf airfield near Zurich on Friday, and immediately announced plans to undertake the first test flight before the end of the year.
The plane boasts more than 12,000 solar cells mounted on wings that have the same span as a Boeing 747, yet the whole aircraft weighs the same as an average family car.
It also features four electric motors and lithium-polymer batteries weighing 400kg, which will charge during the day and then discharge energy at night, allowing the plane to continue to fly in darkness. The first night flight is scheduled for next year with a view to completing the flight in five stages during 2012.
Some engineers have questioned the commercial viability of solar-powered flight, but speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Solar Impulse spokesman Phil Mundwiller insisted that the project could result in a number of low carbon innovations.
"This is not a commercial project, it is a research project and we do not yet know how applicable the technologies we are using will be," he said. "But the car and aviation industry are likely to be interested in our use of ultra-lightweight materials, battery technologies and the extent to which the electric components have been optimised to use as little power as possible."
Piccard has also said that he hopes the plane could prove a forerunner for larger solar-powered aircraft capable of carrying "a few hundred passengers", while the project has secured support from the International Air Transport Association, which has set a goal of delivering commercially viable zero carbon flight by 2050.
Mundwiller said that while the HB-SIA was not the first solar-powered plane, it was hoped that it could become a powerful symbol for the viability of zero-carbon flight.
"Previous solar aircraft tend to have shown the limits of solar flight, but by building a solar plane that can fly through the night this project aims to highlight the potential for solar flight," he said.
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