By Saniya Ghanoui -- July 8, 2010
Flying in a plane around the size of a Boeing 747 and weighing roughly about that of a family car, a Swiss pilot flew more than 26 hours using only solar power.
The Solar Impulse aircraft, which flew through the night using solar power it stored during the day, was the longest and highest flight ever for solar aviation.
Flying at 26,000 feet during the day, the aircraft then descended to 5,000 for the duration of the night flight.
The aircraft has 12,000 solar cells glued to its wings that are used to fuel four electric engines while also recharging lithium batteries stored underneath the wings.
"I have just flown more than 26 hours without a drop of fuel and without causing any pollution," said pilot and engineer André Borschberg.
Borschberg co-founded Solar Impulse with Bertrand Piccard, the man who made the first non-stop balloon flight around the world.
Their next experiment will be to take the solar plane on a 36-hour flight. Within two years, the duo hopes to fly the plane around the world.
But the solar plane is not going to win any records for speed. The plane travels at around 44 mph, yet adding more solar panels or batteries to speed up the aircraft is not an option.
The extra material would weigh down the plane and it would not be able to fly.
As the aircraft is constructed now, the batteries account for one-quarter of the aircraft's weight.
The Solar Impulse project has attracted environmentalists from across the world, but the aviation industry is not serious about its application towards commercial aircraft.
Aviation engineers are not convinced the solar powers are enough to sustain modern day aircrafts, specifically on longer flights.
Solar Impulse acknowledged this issue but said, with time, advances can be made.
"Solar power is unlikely to be the solution for commercial aviation. But after today's flight, nobody, ever again, can say that carbon-free flight is impossible. The industry's job is to achieve the same for a plane carrying 400 people."
(Photo courtesy: AP Images)
