14 DAY TRIAL // The Solar Impulse team has until now managed to fly its sun-powered airplane across Europe, the Mediterranean Sea and the United States. Still, it looks like these daredevils think that more needs be done in order for them to go down in history books.
Not to beat about the bush, the Solar Impulse team has recently announced plans to take a sun-powered airplane on a round-the-world journey. Should things go their way, this journey will take place sometime next year.
Green Car Congress informs that, looking to make sure that this latest endeavor will be a successful one, the folks behind the Solar Impulse project have entered a partnership with ABB, i.e. a multinational corporation headquartered in Switzerland.
Thus, just yesterday, ABB announced that it had agreed to support Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg in their attempt to fly around the world not in a regular plane, but in an aircraft powered entirely by green energy.
“ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, announced today it will support Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg in their attempt to fly around the world in a solar powered airplane in 2015,” the corporation writes on its website.
While flying across Europe, the Mediterranean Sea and the United States, the Solar Impulse team relied on a sun-powered airplane whose wingspan was about the same size of that of a Boeing 747, i.e. 63.4 meters / 208 feet, and that weighed about 1,600 kilograms / 3,527 pounds.
This airplane had a total of 12,000 solar cells embedded in its wings, and these served to keep four 10hp electric motors up and running. The solar cells would also recharge several lithium batteries during daytime, thus making sure that the plane would still be able to fly after sunset.
As impressive as the design of this first plane used by the Solar Impulse team might appear, it looks like, together with ABB, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are to unveil a brand-new solar-powered aircraft this coming April 9. It is this second plane that they want to fly around the world.
Commenting on this collaboration between the Solar Impulse team and ABB, Bertrand Piccard, initiator and chairman of Solar Impulse, said, “It was my dream to have ABB as technology partner of Solar Impulse. We have the same goal of improving the world by using energy more efficiently and conserving natural resources.”
“Solar Impulse and ABB are technology innovators and pioneers. We both want to motivate people to use clean technologies; ABB and Solar Impulse will work together on key technologies like power electronics for our mutual benefit,” added André Borschberg, co-founder and CEO of Solar Impulse.