The record-setting flight is an important development in the exploration of solar energy, but there have been some challenges along the way.
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The team started the trip in Abu Dhabi, and it was completed in the same place after the 12 legs of the journey. “This is why it’s very important to understand that it’s more than an achievement for the history of aviation, it’s a success for the history of energy”. “We have enough solutions, enough technologies”. Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy company Masdar is a partner in the project.
During daylight, the 17,000 solar panels on its surface propelled the engines and recharged the plane’s batteries which were then used at night.
Thanking them for spreading the message of sustainability around the world, Ban said, “Now you have been flying more than 40,000 kilometres without fuel, but I know that you have much energy, much energy”. We are not sure if the Swiss team behind Solar Impulse plans to do this, but they might attempt it if they flawless the craft. His dream took much longer than planned. Strategies had to be invented on the wing to allow Solar Impulse 2 to fly across the Pacific for five consecutive days and nights, and become the first solar airplane to accomplish an oceanic crossing.
Last July the team suffered a serious setback when overheating batteries caused irreversible damage to some components, requiring months of repairs and test flights in Hawaii before Piccard could launch on what would be a 62-hour, 29-minute overwater flight to California.
The project was also beset by bad weather and illness, which delayed the final leg. In the air, the pilot was constantly in contact with mission control in Monaco, where weathermen, mathematicians and engineers monitored the route and prepared flight strategies.
From livestreams from the cockpit (including, bizarrely, a conversation with Akon) to a constant Twitter presence, the two pilots were remarkably upbeat throughout the whole trip, especially when you take into account the physical toll of the long flights and gliding through the air at speeds between 20 and 90 miles per hour.
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But he showed little sign of fatigue after landing. “It was a project that was very hard, a lot of people doubted we could do it, so of course for the team it’s fantastic but also for all the people who believe in clean technologies”, Piccard told reporters. While the pilots do not expect commercial solar-powered planes soon, they hope the project will help spur wider progress in clean energy. “The ball is rolling!” With Si2 demonstrating that sunlight can be a continual source of energy in perpetual flight, “we will soon see solar drones flying in the stratosphere”, Borschberg said. “It’s the new era now for energy and this is really what we’d like to inspire people to do”, Piccard said.
