Eco-Friendly Solar Airplane

In the year 1999 history was made when Bertrand Piccard made the first non-stop journey around the world in a hot air balloon. Eleven years later; Piccard is making history again as the Co-founder of the Eco-friendly Solar Impulse; which is a Switzerland led solar powered airplane development project. The recently debuted carbon fiber Solar Impulse airplane has officially ushered in a whole new Green era of cutting edge solar powering technologies. The energy efficient Solar Impulse airplane triumphantly glided into the Payerne airfield in Switzerland; making it the first airplane to ever complete a 24 hour non-stop flight; fueled only by the natural power of sunlight.

CEO and pilot Andre Borschberg performed the Eco-friendly Solar Impulse test flight; putting to action those advanced energy efficient solar technologies that he, Piccard and their team had developed. The advanced technologies designed into the Green Solar Impulse airplane needed to not only harness and convert the sun's energy to sustain the airplane during its day-time flight; but also needed to incorporate high performance energy efficient batteries that would convert and store the extra solar energy needed to power its night-time flying hours.

It took seven years of planning for the team to develop the Eco-friendly Solar Impulse airplane. The solar powered airplane has the wingspan of a Boeing 777 (207 feet) and comes in at about the weight of a midsized car. The powered solar airplane is equip with 12,000 solar cells and was designed with a single seat cockpit.

Andre Borschberg, a former Switzerland fighter pilot, took off in the solar powered airplane equipped with an emergency parachute, the plane's advanced Eco-friendly solar cell technology and a sophisticated energy efficient computerized monitoring system. He was able to effectively navigate the plane through thermal winds and turbulence; all the while enduring freezing night time temperatures. Andre Borschberg prevailed by completing the first successful flight of a fully solar powered airplane; lasting 24 consecutive airborne hours. The energy efficient Green aircraft was able to reach speeds of 75 mph and soared to heights of 28,000 feet. At the end of his Eco-friendly flight; Andre Borschberg brought the historic Solar Impulse airplane in for a graceful touchdown; effectively bringing home a perfect landing for this record-breaking solar plane Green legacy.

Hundreds of cheering Eco-friendly supporters awaited Andre Borschberg landing this cutting edge solar powered airplane; many of which helped to balance the Green airplane upon landing so that it did not tip and scratch up its wings. An unexpected success came from the recorded data that had the airplane ending its flight with more than 20 percent extra solar energy being collected than was originally expected. The onboard advanced computerized system monitored operations and optimized energy efficiency during the flight.

Andre Borschberg had this to say shortly after landing the energy efficient Solar Impulse solar powered airplane: "Everything went very well, it's really unbelievable," Andre Borschberg went on to say; "We demonstrated it is feasible to fly day and night; which means this technology can be used to save energy and to produce energy, and that's exactly what we wanted to show."

Some of the Solar Impulse airplane's ongoing primary goals have been to develop advancing energy efficient technologies, develop renewable and sustainable Eco-friendly fueling sources and to build an aircraft designed to only use solar power; all of which is geared towards a successful Green flight around the world. Although this event was only a milestone in the grand scheme of things; the test flight of the Solar Impulse airplane has shown positive and successful possibilities for bringing that ambitious ultimate goal closer to a reality.

This groundbreaking Green technology and advanced design shows tremendous Eco-friendly potential for future sustainable and renewable air travel alternatives. It is with this revolutionizing cutting edge Solar Impulse airplane that we can now see, firsthand, the potential possibilities being inspired by the innovative challenges of transforming, storing and managing solar power. This further encourages the theories that it may indeed be possible for an airplane to fly indefinitely; powered only by energy efficient, sustainable and renewable solar energies.

Excitement and anticipation is already focused on the team's next solar powered airplane; of which is to be built incorporating all the Green knowledge, data and improved Eco-friendly technologies that made this successful flight possible. Their next and more advanced solar powered airplane is expected to be ready by 2013. It is being specifically designed with high hopes of being able to travel around the world with only five stops along the way.

The Solar Impulse Aeroplane - Environmental Friendly Flight

In a world almost entirely reliant on fossil or other non-replaceable fuels (such as uranium), the idea of finding a replacement source of energy can be hard to fathom on such a scale. Solar panels and wind turbines can produce electricity, yes, but they can't effectively power a car or a plane, can they?

That assumption is about to change. With the unveiling of the Solar Impulse, an aeroplane powered entirely by solar energy, the limit of solar power's usefulness has been challenged - particularly the world's assumptions about its basic fundamentals.

The main limitation that solar power has always faced is the fact that solar panels can only work while the sun is in the sky. This means that during the day, the energy must be stored in batteries; all very well if you're only using the power to turn the lights on at night, but not very useful if you need to, say, fly a plane day and night.

Despite that, this is exactly what the Solar Impulse plans to do in its attempt to be the first solar-powered aircraft to fly around the world. And its amazing design - a wingspan the size of a Boeing 747, and the weight of an average family car, means that it can continue to store ample energy to keep it aloft during the night, even while it flies through the day.

Unveiled in June 2009 by Bertrand Piccard (one of the two men who first flew non-stop around the world in the Breitling sponsored balloon Breitling Orbiter 3, and the man who initiated the project,) and Andre Borschberg, the Solar Impulse HB-SIA will have made its first test flights by the end of the year, with an all-night flight over Switzerland planned for 2010. A second aircraft, the HB-SIB, will be built to make the 2012 flight around the world in five stages, each of which will last several days.

This is the culmination of six years of work for the team, a triumph of science, technology and the imagination and passion to keep going. And therefore it is only natural that esteemed watch manufacturer Omega should have been one of the sponsors for the project; it is a work of equal dedication to the intricate design work of a finely-tuned watch movement. The watch industry is also notable for many environmental interests from manufacturers across its spectrum, with many becoming carbon neutral and supporting initiatives across the world.

Omega's pioneering spirit also fits the theme of the Solar Impulse's mission, and Stephen Urquhart, Omega's President, said he hoped Omega would continue to work towards developments in sustainable energy. For an industry whose most prestigious and luxurious products can be powered simply by the swinging of the wearer's arm as he goes about his business, this is not an impossible dream.