Solar Impulse to Begin Flight Tests
The idea of building a solar-powered plane capable of completing a round-the-world flight once seemed like, well, a mere flight of fancy. Swiss adventurer Betrand Piccard, known for piloting the first hot-air balloon nonstop around the world in 1999, first floated the idea several years ago, then set out to raise $90 million. Piccard recently unveiled a one-passenger prototype plane, the Solar Impulse, which has a long wingspan of 262.5 feet to provide maximum surface area for the 12,000 solar cells needed to power the craft via its four electric battery-charged motors.
Piccard, something of a Jules Verne character who has signed up Omega watches and Deutsche Bank as key sponsors, is about to begin the first test flights of the prototype, which will then be used to construct the final version. If all goes well the Solar Impulse will be on target to circumnavigate the globe by 2012 in four stages over 15 days, with stops on several continents to switch pilots. The goal is not so much to make the Solar Impulse viably commercially – a single seater with the wingspan of an Airbus obviously has fairly limited practical application – but rather to showcase the capabilities of alternative energy sources and encourage their use.
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