Solar plane to be tested over Alps
Sunday June 28, 2009 - Email this article to a friend

It’s taken 6 years to design and build,  cost £60m (70m euros) and is powered purely by the sun. It’s the brainchild of the Swiss adventurer, Bertrand Piccard, and has just been unveiled to the public.

The Solar Impulse weighs less than the average car and has a wingspan the same as a Boeing 747.  There are 12,000 solar cells on the wings that drive 4 electric motors.

"Yesterday it was a dream. Today it is a plane. Tomorrow it will be an ambassador of renewable energy," Piccard told the audience at it’s launch.

Backers include the watchmaker Omega and Deutsche Bank.

He plans to complete a round the word flight to show people solar powered flight is a practical solution to future air travel.

"In a world depending on fossil energies, the Solar Impulse project aims to have an airplane take off and fly autonomously, day and night, propelled uniquely by solar energy, right round the world without fuel or pollution. An unachievable goal without pushing back the current technological limits in all fields," is the dream as detailed on the project's web site.

However the plane cannot fly more than 70 km/h and has to avoid rain and storms as it cannot collect energy.

It is certainly a fascinating experiment but whether it will ever be commercially viable and be able to replace current aircraft that are powered by fossil fules is another matter altogether.

For more information take a look at www.solarimpulse.com

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