How Solar Aircraft Work

Solar plane makes history after completing round-the-world trip. Solar Impulse 2, which landed in Abu Dhabi, is first plane powered by the renewable energy source to tour the globe.

Solar Impulse 2 has completed the first round-the-world flight by a solar-powered aeroplane, after touching down in Abu Dhabi early on Tuesday. The final leg of the feat, aimed at showcasing the potential of renewable energy, was a bumpy one, with turbulence driven by hot desert air leaving the solo pilot, Bertrand Piccard, fighting with the controls. The plane, which has a wingspan wider than a Boeing 747 and carries more than 17,000 solar cells on its wings, began the circumnavigation in March 2015 in Abu Dhabi. It has since crossed both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans using no fossil fuel and has spent more than 23 days in the air. Speaking to the Guardian from the cockpit shortly before landing, Piccard said he was feeling emotional as he neared the end of the journey: “It is a very, very special moment – it has been 15 years that I am working on this goal. “I hope people will understand that it is not just a first in the history of aviation, but also a first in the history of energy,” he said.


Video advice: Circling the Globe in a Solar-Powered Plane

Some dreams are so fantastic, it takes an unprecedented bid for adventure and glory to see them blossom to fruition. Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, captivated by the spirit of great expeditions of the past, partnered to make the first flight across the world in a solar-powered plane that produces no pollution. Storing solar energy in batteries, the Solar Impulse is capable of staying aloft indefinitely. However, as Piccard and Borschberg learned, this didn’t make the adventure easy — or require any less intrepid heroism from the co-pilots.


Solar flight – Discover how Airbus is harvesting the sun’s rays to power cleaner and high-endurance stratospheric flight.

Airbus and NTT DOCOMO, INC. have demonstrated the ability to use its solar-powered Zephyr High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) to deliver future wireless broadband connectivity. The trial took place in the United States in August, when the Zephyr S aircraft undertook approx. 18-day stratospheric flights to test various capabilities.

Solar Impulse

To design, build and fly around the world in a solar-powered plane and demonstrate what is possible using alternative energy sources.

They faced many technical challenges on the way. Pilot comfort and security are primary concerns because the pilots is going to be flying five nights and days at a time inside a plane able to climbing to eight,000 meters, where hypoxia can be fatal. “We used 3DEXPERIENCE applications for optimal layout and ergonomics for that cockpit design,” Schr stated. “The pilots trained lengthy hrs within the cockpit sitting, moving, doing simple exercises, eating and sleeping. This enabled us to help make the necessary adjustments to ensure that Andr and Bertrand could be as comfortable and safe as you possibly can.

Robb Report

The SolarStratos will gain its power from 240 square feet of solar panels on its wings.

“Our goal would be to show current technology and solar power offers us the chance to exceed what non-renewable fuels offer,” Domjan told Robb Report. “We can fly where no car engine or jet engine can operate and permit sustained flight. ”

A first in aviation history if it succeeds, the SolarStratos project faces huge challenges. To reach 60,000 feet in an unpressurized aircraft—something normally left to stealth jets like the SR-71 spy plane—the solar plane and its pilot will be subjected to temperatures of -70 degrees. Domjan will also have to wear a pressurized spacesuit for the five-hour flight. It will take two hours to reach the stratosphere, 15 minutes floating with the stars and then three hours to descend. At that altitude, Domjan will be able to see the curvature of the planet.

Everything You Need to Know About Solar Impulse

It’s attempting to fly around the world on solar power.

The Solar Impulse 2, an airplane trying to fly all over the world using solar energy, was made to land Monday in Nagoya, Japan because of inclement weather. The experimental aircraft — traveled and financed by Swiss businessman and pilot Andr Borschberg — has become two several weeks into its mission to end up being the first solar-powered plane to circumnavigate our planet. Wait. Is the fact that even possible? Yes. However off, it’s worth noting that Solar Impulse’s trip around the world isn’t nonstop. There are many scheduled stops on the way following the initial departure from Abu Dhabi in March. Solar Impulse has made stops in Oman, India, Myanmar and China, where it required removed from Nanjing on Sunday.

Solar energy is abundant and infinitely renewable. Therefore, it’s not surprising to see the proliferation of devices that rely on the sun — especially solar aircraft.

A solar plane’s flight starts with checks. Check the battery — it should be charged. Check the ground winds. They shouldn’t exceed about 10 miles per hour (16 kilometers per hour), or else the plane could crash on the runway. Check for turbulence in the air because the plane will have to ascend through the turbulent layers. Billows in the clouds are a bad sign. “Wind is your enemy,” says Del Frate. Morning is best for takeoff, when the sun is overhead and there are ample hours of sunlight left in the day. As a runway, you’ll need a circle a little more than three football fields across, which is 10 times shorter than an average airport runway. Next, you angle the plane for takeoff, using that circle. You point the plane so the wind blows head-on, but never across it. Crosswinds spell destruction for most solar planes because they can throw the plane in unwanted directions. When the propellers are online, a combination of battery power and solar energy can start them spinning, and the plane is ready to roll (or be hand-tossed into the air).

Why solar-powered planes are still a long way from carrying passengers

A solar-powered plane just crossed the Pacific Ocean — but the technology still has a long way to go.

Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard made headlines on Saturday as he glided a solar-powered plane onto Moffett Airfield in California following a three-day journey over the Gulf Of Mexico. It’s the newest stay in an around-the-world trip that started in Abu Dhabi last spring and is supposed to raise awareness about the significance of reducing carbon emissions by using clean energy. The plane itself, “Solar Impulse 2,” is really a true zero-fuel aircraft, operated by greater than 17,000 solar panels. It’s made to carry only one pilot — Piccard and the friend Andr Borschberg happen to be tag-teaming your way all over the world — and it has the wingspan of the jumbo jet, even though it weighs 3 tons. The daring trans-Off-shore flight has attracted global interest to the idea of electric planes, that have existed in a variety of forms for many decades now. Some designs depend on solar panels, while some use various batteries, however the overall goal is identical: to attain flight with minimal or no fuel burning.


Video advice: RC Solar Plane Flight Duration Test

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Flying Around the World in a Solar Powered Plane

Pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg successfully landed the Solar Impulse 2 aircraft in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, after flying around the world using only the power of the Sun.

The cockpit from the solar-powered Solar Impulse 2 aircraft, following a training flight at its base in Payerne on November 8, 2014. From left to right instruments are : fuses, throttle, power management, autopilot, motor control, flying instruments and telecommunication.

The journey took a very long time—505 days to fly 26,000 miles (42,000 km) at an average speed of about 45 mph (70 kph)—but pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg successfully landed the Solar Impulse 2 aircraft in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, after flying around the world using only the power of the Sun. Solar Impulse 2 is a solar-powered aircraft equipped with more than 17,000 solar cells that weighs only 2. 4 tons with a wingspan of 235 ft (72 m). Technical challenges, poor flying conditions, and a delicate aircraft all contributed to the slow pace. Gathered here are images from the record-setting circumnavigation, undertaken to help focus the world’s efforts to develop renewable energy sources.

Historic Solar Flight Shows Promise and Challenge of Clean Energy

Completing the first trip around the world exclusively on solar power, the experimental craft shows what’s possible in energy and flight.

Finishing the very first trip all over the world solely on solar energy, the experimental Solar Impulse shows what’s possible in energy and flight. The Solar Impulse 2 concluded its journey Monday, becoming the very first aircraft to circumnavigate the world without a small amount of liquid fuel. Even though we won’t be boarding sun-powered commuter flights in the near future, the solar plane’s task does point toward the way forward for energy. Pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andr Borschberg made the trip during 17 several weeks, stopping in 17 metropolitan areas. Sun power propelled them across roughly 26,718 miles (43,000 kilometers). Their landing in Abu Dhabi happened eventually following the birthday of Amelia Earhart, who grew to become the very first lady to fly alone over the Atlantic in 1932. The historic flights join earlier ones by Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, along with other pioneers—but Solar Impulse was always much more about energy than aviation. Outlining his vision for that project 12 years back, Piccard noted that clean energy “lacked really dynamic marketing marketing impetus.

Airbus’ solar-powered aircraft just flew for a record 26 days straight

Solar powered aviation has passed another milestone.

A solar-powered aircraft in the European aerospace giant Airbus has completed a maiden flight lasting 25 days, 23 hrs, and 57 minutes. The brand new Zephyr S HAPS (Thin Air Pseudo-Satellite) required removed from Arizona on This summer 11 and continued to accomplish “a long duration flight available,” Airbus Defence and Space stated within an announcement Wednesday. A credit card applicatoin has been created to verify the flight like a ” new world ” record. The unmanned aircraft, a 75 kilogram Zephyr, offers what Airbus describes as “local satellite-like services” and operates on solar energy. It are operating in the stratosphere in an average altitude of 70,000 ft and it has a wingspan of 25 meters. “This very effective maiden flight represents a brand new significant milestone within the Zephyr program, adding a brand new stratospheric flight endurance record which hopefully is going to be formalized very shortly,” Jana Rosenmann, mind of unmanned aerial systems at Airbus, stated inside a statement. “We’ll within the future check all engineering data and outputs and begin the preparation of more flights planned for that other half of the year from your new operating site in the Wyndham airfield in Wa,” Rosenmann added.

2 Pioneers flying around the world in a solar airplane to promote clean technologies.

Our challenge: to take an airplane to such a high level of energy efficiency that it could fly day and night relying only on the sun. This required the optimization of new kinds of technology and a drastic reduction in energy consumption. The components normally used in aircraft construction were far too heavy for Solar Impulse.

  • Discover the technologies
  • A flight embedded in the MCC
  • Aircraft Handling
  • Aircraft Protection
  • Airplane Transportation

At the controls for 5 days and 5 nights

In 2015 started the attempt of the First Round-The-World Solar Flight, from Abu Dhabi to Hawaii, already achieving the longest solo solar flight ever achieved in aviation history. In 2016, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, our two Pilots and Founders, completed the first circumnavigation of the globe with no fuel. With their solar aircraft, a flying laboratory full of clean technologies, they flew 40,000 km to promote the use of renewable energies and energy efficiency on the ground, for a better quality of life. Across the Round-The-World flight, the team overcame technical, human and operational challenges that had never been faced before.

Beam Touts Off-grid Solar Power for Electric Aircraft

Clean-technology startup Beam Global believes it has advanced the case for off-grid solar energy as an aircraft power source.

Based on North Park-based Beam, we’ve got the technology generates electricity from solar energy, that is delivered straight to vehicles. The EV ARC recharging units occupy just a typical vehicle and usually are meant to be rapidly deployed to airfields or wherever they’re required by electric aircraft operators. They might also recharge electric ground-support vehicles at FBOs.

Clean-technology startup Beam Global believes it has advanced the case for off-grid solar energy as an aircraft power source with what it says was a record-breaking flight across central California. Joseph Oldham, CEO of New Vision Aviation, a not-for-profit organization providing flight training for disadvantaged communities, recently flew a Pipistrel Alpha Electro 260 miles from Fresno to Lodi, with stops in Madera, Merced, and Modesto. The all-electric light aircraft was powered entirely with Beam Global’s Electric Vehicle Autonomous Renewable Charger (EV ARC) system.

Solar-Powered Planes Are The Future Of Commercial Aviation. Here’s Why

Swiss pilot and entrepreneur Andre Borschberg is pioneering the use of solar-powered airplanes.

But rather of envisioning the next where either Earth is engulfed in fiery flames or even the world becomes as hard to navigate because it would be a century ago, we must change the kind of aircraft we use. That’s where Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg is available in. He’s spent the final 5 years developing solar-powered planes—and flying them round the world—to promote clean technology. He produced the Solar Impulse 2 with an engineering team to demonstrate around the world that fuel-free flying was simpler to attain compared to aeronautical industry might have us believe.


Video advice: How do solar panels work? – Richard Komp

View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-solar-panels-work-richard-komp


[FAQ]

Can planes run on solar power?

Photons captured in the solar cells are converted into electrical potential that powers electric motors in the plane, but solar-powered planes today are only capturing about 10 or 20 percent of the energy from the sun. That equates to a speed of only 50 miles per hour.

Can a solar plane fly forever?

Airbus' Solar-Powered Aircraft Breaks World Record for the Longest Flight. The ship is an ultra-long endurance high-altitude platform featuring a combination of advanced solar cells and lightweight materials that allow it to effectively fly indefinitely powered only by the sun.

How long can a solar plane fly?

The US Navy is developing an uncrewed solar-powered aircraft to fly for 90 days at a time. The Skydweller aircraft could be used as a communications relay platform or a constant eye in the sky to escort surface ships.

How does a solar airplane fly at night?

Solar Impulse plane covered in 17,000 photovoltaic cells. These either power the vehicle's electric motors directly, or charge its lithium-ion batteries, which sustain the plane during the night hours. The project is intended as a demonstration of the capabilities of solar power.

Can submarines be solar-powered?

Under Project Goldfish, Swiss company BKW FMB Energie is developing a solar powered submarine that will be powered by a floating solar array, saving power on continual trips to shore for recharging. ... The solar array will cover an area of 300 square meters in total and generate 30 kilowatts of electricity.

Erwin van den Burg

Stress and anxiety researcher at CHUV2014–present
Ph.D. from Radboud University NijmegenGraduated 2002
Lives in Lausanne, Switzerland2013–present

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