Solar Impulse

AtlantikSolar unmanned aerial vehicle endurance record

Two weeks after having demonstrated AtlantikSolar's first 24-hour flight, the fixed-wing team of ETH Zurich's Autonomous Systems Lab reached another milestone:

Electric vehicles harvest more power

Many land, water and airborne electric vehicles harvest all the energy they need. They never plug in. It is the way of the future.

Solar Impulse will not fly before the beginning of August

Following the record breaking oceanic flight of 5 days and 5 nights in a solar powered airplane, Solar Impulse will undergo maintenance repairs on the batteries due to damages brought about by over heating.

Record-breaking solar flight reaches Hawaii

Endeavoring to reach Hawaii from Japan to encourage the use of clean technologies, the solar powered aircraft of Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg achieved the longest exploration leg of the Solar Impulse's Round-The-World mission.

Energy efficiency and the future of long-distance flight

Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard have suffered set-backs in their quest to circumnavigate the earth in an experimental solar-powered aircraft.

Energy harvesting - The Bigger Picture

IDTechEx now takes the view that energy harvesting as a topic should be as much about higher power uses as low power ones but limited to off-grid. The winning technologies are the same from microwatts to 10kW - electrodynamic followed by photovoltaics with thermoelectrics third but about to narrow the gap. . Here is an early simplified draft of the completely rewritten IDTechEx master report on energy harvesting

Round-The-World in a solar-powered airplane

The Solar Impulse team in Abu Dhabi along with the Mission Control Center in Monaco, witnessed Solar Impulse take-off on the 9th March morning to reach Muscat (Oman), before crossing the Arabian Sea to Ahmedabad (India).

ABB and Solar Impulse form technology alliance

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has announced it will support Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg in their attempt to fly around the world in a solar powered airplane in 2015.

Solar powered plane completes across America mission

Solar Impulse has successfully landed at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport setting a new milestone in the history of aviation: for the first time a plane capable of flying day and night powered exclusively by solar energy has crossed the USA from the West to the East Coasts without using a single drop of fuel.

Solar Impulse successfully lands in New York and sets historic first

For the first time a plane capable of flying day and night powered exclusively by solar energy has crossed the USA from the West to the East Coasts without using a single drop of fuel.

Phoenix to Dallas flight sets distance world record for solar aviation

Solar Impulse, successfully landed in Dallas-Fort Worth yesterday completing its longest leg of the 2013 Across America mission and setting a new absolute world distance record in solar aviation (832 NM/ 1'541 km).

Solar Impulse to fly across America - day and night without fuel

Solar Impulse, the Swiss solar powered airplane, plans to depart from San Francisco today with Bertrand Piccard in the single seater cockpit, to complete the first leg of its coast-to-coast flights across the USA. It is the first time that a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel, will attempt to fly across America.

7th Annual CAFE Electric Aircraft Symposium: First day

This excellent event "7th Electric Aircraft Symposium" in Santa Rosa, USA was acclaimed as the best ever in the series. Over 150 people attended, an eclectic mix from NASA and Siemens to hobbyists, universities and technology startups were there.

Solar impulse ready to fly across America

The co-founders and pilots of Solar Impulse have announced plans to depart from San Francisco with Bertrand Piccard in the single seater cockpit, to complete the first leg of its coast-to-coast flights across the USA. They claim it is the first time that a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel, will attempt to fly across America.

Two seater solar plane

Almost ready to fly, the Sunseeker Duo has been rolled out in the USA following European leadership in single-seater all-solar civilian planes such as the Swiss-German Solar Impulse that has flown a complete day and night and travelled between countries.

Two-seater solar plane

Almost ready to fly, the Sunseeker Duo has been rolled out in the USA following European leadership in single-seater all-solar civilian planes such as the Swiss-German Solar Impulse that has flown a complete day and night and travelled between countries.

Biomimetic aircraft snatch power aloft

Solar powered aircraft are old news. However, if we benchmark what is happening with other electric vehicles such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles AUV, then multiple energy harvesting should be the order of the day, even with aircraft.

Preparations for round the world solar flight

Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg's solar airplane will attempt, for the first time ever, to fly over 2,500 km without using a drop of fuel, finally landing in Morocco.

Solar Impulse Project gains new sponsor

SunPower Corp has announced that the company is providing solar cells to the Solar Impulse project.