Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg set off from Abu Dhabi Airport to fly around the world on a solar-powered plane.
The airplane called Solar Impulse-2 has a lightweight construction, it is lined with 17,000 solar cells, which are installed on the wings having a 72- metres wingspan. 7 lithium-polymeric batteries are used as storage batteries supplying the plane systems at night. The previous plane, which crossed the United States was taken as a base for Solar Impulse 2. According to the estimations of the pilots, the flight will last for about five months and the maximum speed will constitute 70 km/h. The plane weighs 2200 kilograms and the batteries account for one fourth of the total weight.
The major difficulties have to be surmounted while flying across Nanking-Hawaii, for the pilots will have to span 5000 miles during 5 days without any stop-overs.
This flight will pose not only a psychological and physical challenge but also it will explore the new ways of using solar energy. Undoubtedly, such planes are not capable yet of replacing jet-propelled aviation as their speed and weight-bearing capacity are extremely low, nonetheless this technology can make planes more nonvolatile.
Besides, the problem of reducing the degree of emissions is very acute nowadays, as the degree of carbon dioxide emissions during the transportation of one passenger over one kilometer is higher in planes than in any other kinds of transport. It is expected that by 2050 the rate of emissions will amount to 6% of the worldwide level. Thereby, the European Union has already established the norms regulating such emissions, and the USA can undertake this initiative in near future.
Over the last decade scientists sought to resolve this problem by means of increasing the fuel efficiency, but this way turned out to be too slow and it required considerable expenses, that’s why the aviation industry reckons on the implantation of biofuel, specifically of that produced from alga. Unfortunately, the concrete achievements proved to be not so significant because the first airplane on biofuel took off in 2011 and it is going to take long years before they become popular. Taking into account all these facts, solar batteries represent the most attractive type of alterative fuel for the aircraft.
Even if these plans do not become a reality, we can draw some valuable lessons from the Solar Impulse 2 Project. For example, engineers can succeed in designing more energy efficient engines, for the Solar Impulse 2 engines spend just 3% of the thermal energy of its total capacity compared to the conventional engines, which spend 70%.
