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Solar Impulse

Solar Impulse
Solar Impulse 1 landing at Brussels Airport after its first international flight on 13 May 2011.
Role Experimental solar-powered aircraft
National origin Switzerland
Manufacturer Solar Impulse
First flight 3 December 2009
Primary user André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard
Produced 2009–present
Number built 2 (including prototype)

Solar Impulse is a Swiss long-range experimental solar-powered aircraft project, and also the name of the project's two operational aircraft.[1] The privately financed project is led by Swiss engineer and businessman André Borschberg and Swiss psychiatrist and balloonist Bertrand Piccard, who co-piloted Breitling Orbiter 3, the first balloon to circle the world non-stop.[2] The Solar Impulse project's goals were to make the first circumnavigation of the Earth by a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power and to bring attention to clean technologies.[3]

The aircraft is a single-seated monoplane powered by photovoltaic cells; it is capable of taking off under its own power. The prototype, often referred to as Solar Impulse 1, was designed to remain airborne up to 36 hours.[4] It conducted its first test flight in December 2009. In July 2010, it flew an entire diurnal solar cycle, including nearly nine hours of night flying, in a 26-hour flight.[5] Piccard and Borschberg completed successful solar-powered flights from Switzerland to Spain and then Morocco in 2012,[6] and conducted a multi-stage flight across the US in 2013.[7][8]

A second aircraft, completed in 2014 and named Solar Impulse 2, carries more solar cells and more powerful motors, among other improvements. On 9 March 2015, Piccard and Borschberg began to circumnavigate the globe with Solar Impulse 2, departing from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.[9] The aircraft was scheduled to return to Abu Dhabi in August 2015 after a multi-stage journey around the world.[10] By June 2015, the plane had traversed Asia,[11] and in July 2015, it completed the longest leg of its journey, from Japan to Hawaii.[12] During that leg, the aircraft's batteries sustained thermal damage and took months to replace.[13]

A battery cooling system was installed and Solar Impulse 2 resumed the circumnavigation in April 2016, when it flew on to California.[14][15] It continued across the US until it reached New York City in June 2016.[16] Later that month, the aircraft crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Seville, Spain.[17] It stopped in Egypt before returning to Abu Dhabi on 26 July 2016, more than 16 months after it had left (506 days), completing the approximately 42,000 km (26,000 mi) first circumnavigation of the Earth by a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power.[18][19]

In 2019, the Solar Impulse 2 was sold to Skydweller, a Spanish-American company that is developing autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles capable of continuous flight. It plans to use the plane for research and development flights, after which the Solar Impulse 2 is planned to be on permanent display at the Swiss Museum of Transport.

  1. ^ Cardwell, Diane (1 May 2013). "Cross-Country Solar Plane Expedition Set for Takeoff". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  2. ^ "A Speck in the Sky". The New York Times. 21 March 1999. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  3. ^ Div, Stav. "Solar Impulse 2: The groundbreaking aircraft demonstrating the possibilities of clean energy", The Independent, 2 June 2016
  4. ^ "HB-SIA Mission". solarimpulse.com. Solar Impulse Project. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  5. ^ "Swiss solar plane makes history with night flight". Swisster.ch. 8 July 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference MadridRabat was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mission was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Solar Impulse ends cross-country US flight slightly early in NY due to torn left wing". Engadget.com. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  9. ^ Batrawy, Aya (9 March 2015). "Solar-powered plane takes off for flight around the world". news.yahoo.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  10. ^ Al Wasmi, Naser (25 September 2014). "Pilots to take off from Abu Dhabi for historic solar-powered flight". The National. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Leg7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference JapanHawaii was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Resume2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Amos, Jonathan (21 April 2016). "Solar Impulse sets off for California after long lay-off". BBC.
  15. ^ Berger, Noah. "Solar-powered plane completes journey across Pacific Ocean" Archived 7 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Charlotte Observer, 24 April 2016
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference RiceJFK was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Amos, Jonathan. "Solar Impulse completes Atlantic crossing with landing in Seville", BBC, 23 June 2016
  18. ^ Amos, Jonathan. "Solar Impulse: Zero-fuel plane lands in Cairo", BBC, 13 July 2016
  19. ^ "Solar Impulse completes historic round-the-world trip", BBC, 26 July 2016

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