Piccard said that he wants Solar Impulse to revive interest in promoting clean technology.
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From the beginning, the project was meant to bring attention to clean energy and the technologies it requires.
Nestle Health Science, which provided their tailor-made meals, said its research could help develop “convenient, highly-nutritious food” for elderly people.
He also spoke about the need to create an worldwide agency for clean technologies.
Nevertheless, the primary objective was accomplished – to fly a exclusively solar powered aircraft around the world to prove the task could be done.
Solar Impulse 2 made history on Tuesday as the first airplane to circle the globe powered only by the sun, opening up new possibilities for the future of renewable energy.
The around-the-world flight was divided into 17 parts. The longest and most hard part was from Nagoya, Japan, to Kalaeloa, in the American state of Hawaii.
During the trip the Swiss co-pilots broke 9 records, including the landing in Abu Dhabi.
Nearly 40,000 kilometres and more than 500 days later, Solar Impulse 2 has returned to Abu Dhabi. The plane’s body is made of very light, but strong carbon fiber. The whole aircraft weighs about as much as a auto.
The Swiss-engineered Solar Impulse 2 did not use a drop of fuel. That is greater than a 747 passenger Jet.
“On behalf of everyone at ABB, congratulations to Bertrand Piccard, André Borschberg, and the rest of the Solar Impulse team”. Announced by NASA head Charles Bolden as the first of a new series of X-planes, this plane is powered by an array of 14 small propellers on the leading edge of the wing, promising a five-fold reduction in the energy required for a small plane to cruise at 175mph.
However, while a large-scale solar plane is unlikely to be seen, electric or hybrid electric planes have taken a step forward with the recent announcement of the NASA X-57 all-electric plane. Since the aircraft could only reach a speed of 90 to 140 kilometers per hour, technical improvements were required along the way.
The plane has flown 43,041 kilometres since starting the trip in March 2015. But the effort started more than 10 years earlier.
The most famous such flight was by Charles Lindbergh, who in 1927 became the first person to cross the Atlantic solo. “The Solar Impulse team is helping to pilot us to that future”. The number of solar cells and more importantly the number of batteries to generate and store this energy makes such a plane unfeasible with current technology.
Growing costs also threatened the project. The mission cost is estimated at more than $100 million.
The flight was sponsored by more than 40 companies and organisations.
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Unfavourable weather at times hindered smooth flying, causing the plane to be grounded for months in some countries.
