The Global Solar Flight that Will Take Over a Year
Apparently, the Solar Impulse 2 has been grounded till next year due to battery problems. The plane’s batteries, which provide power for night flying, overheated during its recent five-day flight from Japan to Hawaii. The Solar Impulse 2 flight started in March of this year plans to resume by April of 2016. The Solar Impulse 2 has also made numerous stops on its global flight.
Solar Impulse 2:
- Made of carbon fiber.
- Has 17,248 solar cells with four motors.
- Flies between 30 and 40 mph.
- Seats one person as pilot.
Solar Impulse Chairman Bertrand Piccard sees the high-tech plane as proving the potential of renewable energy and clean technology, he also believes that the solar plane could spark increased interest in technologies such as LED lights and electric cars, as well as lightweight vehicles.
This was my vision when I created that project — it was to have an airplane that can fly with no fuel. This is fantastic, to prove that clean technology can achieve [the] impossible.
However, since WWII, planes have been making non-stop global flights in under 4 days, compared to this current flight that has numerous stops and will take over a year to complete.
The potential of solar energy was proven long ago and there are many applications deployed. Off – the -grid applications abound and make sense when better options are not available.
The desire of some people to use solar energy to replace all other types of energy everywhere may lead to some progress, but when the sun sets and batteries fail, be prepared for a cold, dark night.