Swiss pilots and co-founders of Solar Impulse Company, Bertrand Picar and André Borschberg have launched a new solar project in Myanmar, in which 70% of the population have no access to electricity.
Participants of the project are the NGO PACT and the Swiss corporation Swiss Corporation ABB, a leading developer of technologies in the energy sector. The main part of the plan is the installation of local solar plants that will provide opportunities for economic growth for remote regions of the country. One million inhabitants of the country will have access to the grid over the next five years.
Regional Director of the PACT Richard Harrison believes that the construction of 700 charging stations, provided by the work plan, will help to get jobs for women living in rural areas.
Piccard and Borschberg claim that this plan is a practical demonstration of their ideas. "Alternative energy can improve quality of life. It can be used both for lighting and for power supply in aircraft, making life better. Such actions are needed all over the world,"- they said.
After Myanmar pilots of the world's first solar-powered aircraft will travel to China, where they will expect for the good weather conditions, suitable for the intersection of the Pacific Ocean and the flight to the United States. After that they will go to North Africa, which will be the last destination before returning to Abu Dhabi, where this round the world flight was started.
