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Solar energy is being used for various purposes all over the globe
today with the rise in technology. The sun is being squeezed of its
juice to power up homes, cars and even cell phones. The newest
application for solar energy is to power up airplanes. Known as the
HB-SIA and built by a Swiss team, it completed its first test run in
Zurich this December. The plane flew 350 meters at an altitude of one
meter and will have its next test run in 2010. Chairman of Sun Impulse
and co-founder of this project, Bertrand Piccard, hope’s that this
airplane will circle the globe in 20 days by the year 2012. He managed
to draw in €40 million of the total €70 million needed from investors
like Semper, Deutsche Bank, Toyota and a few others.
This project aims at promoting the use of alternate forms of energy. Piccard hopes that the Chinese solar technology firm, SunTech will present the solar cells required. To circle the globe, the HB-SIA requires around 12000 solar cells that need to be attached to the planes wings and fuselage. These will help store 14 hours of energy. With a wingspan as long as an Airbus 340 and the weight of a car, it can soar up to 8500km with an average speed of 70kmph. When completed, this plane is sure to pave the way for a cleaner and greener aviation industry.
