Posted on 07/08/2010 6:03:03 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
An experimental solar-powered plane completed its first 24-hour test flight successfully Thursday, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all night.
The test brings the Swiss-led project one step closer to its goal of circling the globe using only energy from the sun.
Pilot Andre Borschberg eased the Solar Impulse out of the clear blue morning sky onto the runway at Payerne airfield about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of the Swiss capital Bern at exactly 9 a.m. (0700 GMT; 3 a.m. EDT).
Helpers rushed to stabilize the pioneering plane as it touched down, ensuring that its massive 207-foot (63-meter) wingspan didn't scrape the ground and topple the craft.
"We achieved more than we wanted. Everybody is extremely happy," Borschberg told reporters after landing.
Previous flights included a brief "flea hop" and a longer airborne test earlier this year, but this week's attempt was described as a "milestone" by the team and comes after seven years of planning.
The team says it has now demonstrated that the single-seat plane can theoretically stay in the air indefinitely, recharging its depleted batteries using 12,000 solar cells and nothing but the rays of the sun during the day.
But while the team says this proves that emissions-free air travel is possible, it doesn't see solar technology replacing conventional jet propulsion any time soon.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Intriguing.
The reason for the “massive wings” is probably to increase surface area enough for the photovoltaic cells to collect enough energy.
IIRC, we recently broke 10% efficiency with solar-cells, Imagine what they could do with 50% efficient cells.
The pilot brought his IPOD along and the batteries on his IPOD ran out while the plane’s batteries was still fully charged.
LOL
With 50% efficiency, you could easily power your home with them. The only question would be of cost.
solar is a hoax. Put Gasoline in that thing (we have billions of Bbls) and see what happens!
This is true; it's somewhat true today with the cost thing. Solar energy is great for things like hot-water, mpeters, RIGHT NOW. If you don't believe me you're welcome to visit NM and put some water in an old bottle, paint it black, and leave it out in the sun for the day. {You can use a parabolic mirror to do the same thing just about anywhere that you can get a sunny day.}
The mass production of Solar Electricity, right now, is a hoax. By my 'guesstemation' we would need solar-cells of about 80% efficiency before that becomes feasible on the engineering-aspect... which is distinct from the cost-effectiveness thereof.
As it currently is, I think the best way to get "solar energy" is to build (in places like NM, AZ, NV) big, black, hollow towers that have somewhat bigger bases and relatively small tops (like the distinctive nuclear 'smokestack', but more pronounced). Inside these hollow towers, at the tops, would be turbines.
The sun would heat the air, which would want to rise, which would impel the movement of the turbines and thus generate electricity. Perfect for those hot summer days those deserts are famed for.
And as long as I'm dreaming this up, why not let it be Tesla Turbines at the top? :D
there is nothing new about a glider
staying aloft for 24 hours
Did you read how it was powered?
Even if it had more power left in the cells than they expected, they couldn’t make a true circumnavigation of the globe. My reasoning is that they took off at mid latitudes on one of the longest days of they year to make the maximum use of sunlight. A true circumnavigation of the globe would include crossing the equator twice, where the day and night are always equal.
I agree with you. I really do not think that they will make it.
Hot idea. I am a Theist. I believe that evil tries to derail us. God gave us oil — all the oil we will ever need. You can see is gushing forth on BP.com. I can’t drive my car on wind and I play golf in my golf cart but that damned thing is good for 30 miles max (at 15 mph) and will get me killed on an interstate. Drill Dammit Drill !!
Very impressive! The Globull warming garbage aside, these Swiss and other scientists researching the potential renewable energies like solar and wind should be lauded and not mocked, much like visionaries and explorers of the past were once mocked but now lauded in hind-sight.
add a 1/2 hp electric motor
and a propeller to a glider,
still a glider
ping
I’m not saying don’t drill.
But I *am* saying that we could, and probably should, take a look into other ways to “get the job done.” It is, after all, that looking that leads us to better and/or more efficient procedures.
Take computer-science as an example; the ‘bubble sort’ is an *easy* and effective (meaning it gets the job done) method of sorting... however, it is DOG-slow! O(n^2), even if the list is sorted IIRC. This is because it is two for-loops with one inside the other.
Quicksort, on the other hand, is quick (so long a an extreme data-value is not chosen as the ‘pivot’) but EXACTLY as effective as Bubble Sort, it runs at O(n log n) in average. This method checks a value (the ‘pivot’) against its data moving everything larger than itself to the one side and everything less than itself to the other side, the procedure is then applied [recursively] to the greater-than side and to the less-than side. Values that are equal to the pivot are grouped with the pivot and are already sorted by virtue of them being equal to the pivot.
But the headline that it ran on sun power that is prominent.
I thought it was very impressive but the bigger technical problem they are going to have is going around the globe.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.