14 DAY TRIAL // Solar powered plans aren't quite an innovation in the large field of advantages provided by renewables. But the team of experts behind the SolarShip company located in Toronto think that they have the key to develop a new green way of delivering products to remote areas all across the globe, without putting the air quality in danger .
The enterprise is supporting a new prototype, placed somewhere between an airship and an airplane, which apparently has the capacity to carry up to 12 tonnes of merchandise, while reaching 85 kilometers per hour.
It can fly up to 1000 kilometers every day, using a smart combination of helium gas and power provided by solar panels placed on its body.
The innovative Solar Ship product is a hybrid aircraft able to gain lift from both buoyant gas and aerodynamics. The main advantage is the fact that its presence won't depend on key factors for the present delivery system: fossil fuels, roads or runways.
They are still trying to improve their hybrid, but officials from the company said its first tour has been a major success. At his point in time, the team struggles to implement effective solar panels and lightweight batteries to their breakthrough, which will most likely innovate the entire delivery system.
Also, representatives suggested that their product isn't designed to compete with solar planes, which require special conditions. More likely, their innovative project will represent a new kind of flying truck which is meant to reach remote areas which are otherwise hard to access by plane.
Its most powerful competitor seems to be the helicopter, but this option is less viable when it comes to the fuel costs.
The prototype proves its utility in delivering goods and services, but its manufacturers say that it can be extremely helpful in solving crisis situations, like in the case of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake which affected Haiti in 2010.
In such extreme cases, roads are the first structures which collapse. Therefore, airplanes can't land to offer support to the local communities.
Every minute counts, as the lives of people are being threatened by a devastating natural catastrophe. It took about 8 days for authorities to reach that particular area, due to the fact that the streets and the fuel infrastructure from Port-au-Prince were compromised.
If such an event takes place in Ontario in the near future, the people behind this projects say their flying truck would come to the rescue.
Despite the fact that will we have to wait a little longer until the flying truck is able to deliver our hot-dogs on the football court, their manufacturers preserve their optimism, thinking that their breakthrough will become easy to implement and profitable for the company. So beware: it's a bird, it's a plane, it's the new Solar Ship flying truck!