Inspiration

A successful experiment regarding the capacity of solar panels has finally opened new opportunities to replace the conventional energy sources. In a hugely success, an experimental airplane continued throughout the night on solar sells. The airplane was propelled by 12,000 solar cells and sunlight-powered lithium batteries. The aircraft was flown by Andre Borschberg and it weighed about the size of a car. It was a HB-SIA carbon-fibre aircraft. The experimental airplanes touched down at 9 a.m local time in Switzerland near Lake Neuchatel.

The flight was sponsored by Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s biggest bank the project about the first flight around the globe in an airplane with the use of solar energy. The project was led by the Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard and Borschberg. Borschberg said “the most incredible one of my flying career, just sitting there and watching the battery charge level rise and rise thanks to the sun and then that suspense, not knowing whether we were going to manage to stay up in the air the whole night. I have just flown more than 26 hours without using a drop of fuel and without causing any pollution!”

The speed of solar celled propelled single-seat plane averaged 23 knots (26 miles per hour). It made loops over Switzerland’s Jura Mountains. Now the next task will be for Solar Impulse to cross the Atlantic. After that, an around-the-world flight based on solar energy will be organized in 2013.