Solar Impulse-2 is a solar-powered aircraft that recently completed the second leg of its round-the-world trip flying from Abu Dhabi to India powered solely by energy from 17,000 solar cells. It stores excess solar energy in lithium-ion batteries to fly at night and has a wingspan wider than a Boeing 747 despite weighing only 2.3 tons. Piloted by Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, the aircraft flies slowly at a maximum speed of 100 mph but demonstrates that solar technology is progressing to enable aircraft to fly faster and with heavier payloads in the future.
Solar Impulse-2 is a solar-powered aircraft that recently completed the second leg of its round-the-world trip flying from Abu Dhabi to India powered solely by energy from 17,000 solar cells. It stores excess solar energy in lithium-ion batteries to fly at night and has a wingspan wider than a Boeing 747 despite weighing only 2.3 tons. Piloted by Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, the aircraft flies slowly at a maximum speed of 100 mph but demonstrates that solar technology is progressing to enable aircraft to fly faster and with heavier payloads in the future.
Original Description:
The Technology Behind the Solar Plane Solar Impulse-2
Original Title
The Technology Behind the Solar Plane Solar Impulse-2
Solar Impulse-2 is a solar-powered aircraft that recently completed the second leg of its round-the-world trip flying from Abu Dhabi to India powered solely by energy from 17,000 solar cells. It stores excess solar energy in lithium-ion batteries to fly at night and has a wingspan wider than a Boeing 747 despite weighing only 2.3 tons. Piloted by Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, the aircraft flies slowly at a maximum speed of 100 mph but demonstrates that solar technology is progressing to enable aircraft to fly faster and with heavier payloads in the future.
Solar Impulse-2 is a solar-powered aircraft that recently completed the second leg of its round-the-world trip flying from Abu Dhabi to India powered solely by energy from 17,000 solar cells. It stores excess solar energy in lithium-ion batteries to fly at night and has a wingspan wider than a Boeing 747 despite weighing only 2.3 tons. Piloted by Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, the aircraft flies slowly at a maximum speed of 100 mph but demonstrates that solar technology is progressing to enable aircraft to fly faster and with heavier payloads in the future.
Solar Plane Solar Impulse-2 By Aniruddha Bhattacharjee Posted March 17, 2015 In Solar Products, Solar Success Cases
Flying on nothing but the energy generated by sunlight, the zero fuel solar plane, Solar Impulse-2, has just completed the second leg of its 10-leg trip around the world. Taking off from Abu Dhabi (UAE) and ying to Ahmedabad, India via Muscat (Oman), the ultra-light aircraft is powered by 17,000 solar cells that generate electricity to run its four propellers. Excess energy is stored in four energy-dense lithium-ion battery packs, which enable Solar Impulse-2 to y through the night. Its 72m wingspan, by the way, is wider than the wingspan of the Boeing 747 (68.5m), known to all you aviation enthusiasts at the Jumbo jet.
Solar Impulse-2 weighs in at a featherweight 2.3 tons, and is designed to be highly efcient in ight, with its massive wings providing maximum lift with minimum drag (air resistance). Its battery packs sit behind its propellers, while the solar cells line the top of its wings. Piloted alternatingly by one of two highly experienced pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg the single cockpit, single seat airplane consumes very low energy. However, its performance does come at a compromise on its airspeed, the top speed is only 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour). To put that in context, commercial airliners cruise at speeds in excess of 500 mph. For its journey to India, Solar Impulse-2 ew in at a leisurely 43 mph (70 kmph). Its predecessor, Solar Impulse-1, made a widely covered ight from Europe to North Africa and across mainland USA. Solar Impulse-2 now takes it to the next step, and part of its journey will involve ying across the vast Pacic ocean. http://abcofsolar.com/thetechnologybehindthesolarplanesolarimpulse2/
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TheTechnologyBehindtheSolarPlaneSolarImpulse2
Solar Impulse-2: a window into our future
While it may still just be a prototype, the aircraft is certainly a window into our future. It can y at an altitude of up to 9,000m. Thats higher than Mt. Everest, in case you didnt remember, and well within the ight altitude of commercial airliners. Solar Impulse-2s ight also implies that as solar cells become more efcient and battery packs capable of storing more energy, similar aircraft may be able to y much faster and possibly with much heavier payloads (for instance, carrying more people). The $150 million aircraft will now y to Varanasi, before crossing over into Myanmar and China. Interestingly, Andre Borschberghas already drawn up plans for the projects next iteration, Solar Impulse 3.0, which will be an unmanned drone capable of ying non-stop for 6 months. It just goes to show how quickly solar technology is progressing, and the kind of radical new applications we can expect in the future. Until then, you can follow Solar Impulse-2 live atwww.solarimpulse.com.
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