World’s First Solar-Powered Airplane begins Round-the-World Tour

The world’s first solar cell airplane is to take to the skies once again. It is hoped that it will make a round-the-globe journey without employing a single drop of fuel.

Titled Solar Impulse 2, the airplane is the first one that is entirely built around the idea of the solar cell. What this means is that it runs on sunlight and has no need of petrol or diesel. The challenge before the makers of this humdinger is to fly solo all around the world via this plane.

It is quite an exciting proposal alright. Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg not to mention the rest of their team members will prove to the rest of humanity that a clean fuel source can drive a plane on a journey across the equator.

Mankind has always pushed the envelope as far as new inventions are concerned. That is the goal and the purpose of technology. Now with this solar cell airplane, the race is on for cleaner energy sources that could drive the products and consumer durables of today and tomorrow. Already this special airplane has been deconstructed and now it is being transported to Abu Dhabi where its global round trip will ensue. 

Over the span of the next 20 weeks or so, the plane will flight hop from the Emirates to Muscat (Oman) and then fly from one continent to the next on a constant basis. Andre Borschberg is to be the chief pilot of the special aircraft. He will be controlling the engine from within the cockpit.

Bertrand Piccard will share control of the plane with him though. In the pit stops the plane will make along the way, the message of clean solar energy to fuel all our everyday operations will get relayed to the inhabitants of the areas.

Borschberg mentioned the fact to BBC that he was confident regarding his magnificent machine. And it had to really deliver if it was to take him and Piccard across the global expanse of the seven continents. It will be quite an obstacle course alright. Yet the man is adamant that it is possible.

A major milestone will have been reached after the arrival of the aircraft in China. Dubbed a solar revolution, the project has everybody pretty enthused. As the aircraft will reach far into the empyrean heights, everybody seeing the operation will take a breath of anticipation.

By the time this century will have reached its halfway mark, this airplane is hoped to provide a dominant model for most of the electricity throughout the Global Village. With lowering costs of solar cell panels in the past years, this plane’s construction became a possibility.

In the United States alone, solar employments far outnumber coal mining careers. Already two years ago the Solar Impulse 2 made a journey across the United States. With its upcoming world tour, its reputation as a clean technology will have been established for good.