Channel NewsAsia 18 Feb 08;
SINGAPORE: Imagine a plane that can fly round the world day and night with zero fuel, zero emissions - and powered by just solar energy. With skyrocketing jet fuel prices, that's not a pipe dream anymore - but a real vision that adventurer Dr Bertrand Piccard hopes to turn into reality by 2011.
It may just be a prototype now. But this dream of a plane - the Solar Impulse - developed by Dr Piccard's team, should go on its first test flight by 2009.
And by 2011, the team hopes to build a second plane that will travel around the world, day and night.
However, when the sun goes down, what happens to this plane that depends on solar energy to stay in flight?
Piccard said: "On solar energy, you have to capture the energy with solar cells on the wings, store this energy in the batteries and at the same time, run the engine during the day."
"So when you get the dark, you can use the energy from the batteries until the next sunrise, and continue the next day and next night and next day again," he added.
Batteries are expected to last at least 16 hours after dark. But to fly without fuel, obtaining the right aerodynamics was tough.
However, that dream is now a reality with a cool US$70 million tag - of which 65 per cent of the financing has been obtained.
And with a man who has gone round the world non-stop in a hot air balloon, an adventure like this at the frontiers of aviation should be no barrier.
With an aviation industry vision of zero carbons emissions in 50 years, we could be travelling on a 300-passenger plane powered solely by clean energy in the future. - CNA/vm
Lean, green flying machine
Leong Wee Keat, Today Online 19 Feb 08;
THIS plane will have the wingspan of a superjumbo Airbus A380 but the weight of a car. And when it finally takes off in three years' time, the single-seater Solar Impulse plane will attempt to create aviation history — by flying around the world purely on solar energy, with zero emissions.
And after that flight is completed in May 2011, the Solar Impulse's next ambitious target will be to carry a payload of 300 passengers in little more than 40 years' time.
Founded five years ago, the Swiss-based Solar Impulse project seeks to realise the dream of an aircraft capable of taking off autonomously and maintaining itself in flight for several days without any fuel, propelled solely on energy generated and stored by the solar cells on its wings.
Yesterday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) signed a cooperation agreement with Solar Impulse on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit.
The agreement is the first the IATA has signed since it announced in December its goal of having air travel achieve carbon-neutral growth in the medium-term, en route to a carbon emission-free future in 50 years.
With the industry under the spotlight amid climate change concerns, airlines and manufacturers have begun taking steps to reduce emissions, such as reducing fuel burn and attempting flights on alternative fuels.
Yet, founder and president of Solar Impulse, Dr Bertrand Piccard — who piloted the first non-stop, round-the-world balloon flight in 1999 — acknowledged that aiming to fly without fuel sets "the bar extremely high".
"In the 20th century, we have to rewrite aviation history with the same passion and enthusiasm but with other technologies which are less greedy in terms of fuel," he said.
Current solar airplanes are not designed to store energy and have to land when there is insufficient sunlight.
But the plane — which looks like a glider with 250 sq m of solar cells — can fly up to 16 hours in darkness on solar energy stored in lightweight lithium batteries. If energy levels are low, the plane can climb to greater altitudes, similar to those reached by jet planes, to reach the sun's rays.
Construction of the first prototype is underway. Test flights will be carried out later this year, with the first night flight set for next year. A second plane will then be built to cross the Atlantic a year later.
In May 2011, the Solar Impulse plane will attempt to fly around the world, with stops in China, Hawaii, Florida, Morocco or Spain, before returning to its starting point in the United Arab Emirates.
The plane will land after every five days non-stop in the air for a change of pilots. Dr Piccard said the plane's auto-pilot would allow the pilot to rest and only sound an alarm if it detects trouble or turbulence.
In all, 52 engineers are working on the US$70-million ($99-million) project.
Asked how he would persuade major commercial aircraft manufacturers to adopt his idea, Dr Piccard said: "We don't need to convince anyone.
"The price of energy will oblige everyone to find alternative solutions. When you have oil at $200 a barrel, the price of the ticket will not remain the same."
