Officially launched in 2003, Solar Impulse is an unusual technological adventure. An avant-garde scientific programme and veritable technical laboratory capable of flying around the planet without using any polluting sources of energy.
This is also a tremendous gamble. A gamble taken on by Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, two pioneers obsessed with a strong determina¬tion to change the world, to surpass the bounds of feasibility in order to improve humanity’s quality of life. “Solar Impulse wasn’t built to trans¬port passengers but to transport mes¬sages” emphasises Bertrand Piccard. “We want to demonstrate the impor¬tance of the pioneering spirit, and encourage people to question their convictions.” A spirit of adventure, technical innovation, technological progress… To move from a dream to a project and from a project to a real¬ity, 16 long years elapsed between the birth of the idea in Bertrand Piccard’s mind in 1999 and its consecration in 2015.
After crossing America in 2013 aboard the Solar Impulse 1 prototype, the visionary project shifted up to the next gear in 2015 by taking on the first solar flight around the world. Departing from Abu Dhabi last March, Solar Impulse 2 is expected to complete the round-the-world trip in five months with stop-offs in Oman, India, China, the United States, Southern Europe and North Africa. “The question now is not so much to know if man can go further and populate other planets, but rather to know how to organ¬ise ourselves so as to make life on Earth increasingly worth living,” said Auguste Piccard in 1931 following his first ascent into the stratosphere.
With Solar Impulse, his grandson is pro¬viding part of the answer to changing the world. A response that is “sunny”, ingenious… and radiantly bright!
Solar Impulse is…
1 unique plane capable of flying day and night with neither petrol nor polluting emissions
12 years of feasibility, design and construction studies
72 metres of wingspan, bigger than a Boeing 747-800
17’248 solar cells incorporated into the wing to fuel four electric engines with renewable energy
2’300 kilograms, equivalent to the weight of a car
35’000 kilometres flown around the world at a speed of between 50 and 100 km/h
2 pilots who swap at every stop-off
80 technicians and engineers mobilised around the world
25 days of flying around the world in 2015
André Borschberg, Bertrand Piccard and Solar Impulse © Regis Colombo / Diapo.ch
Comments from the pioneers
Bertrand Piccard The great achievements of the 20th century were the conquests: the Poles, Everest, the Abysses, the Moon. Those of the 21st century, in my opinion, should be much more focused on preserving and where possible improving the quality of life on our planet. How can one reconcile economic and ecological interests and create alternate sources? Solar Impulse is a symbol of this mindset.”
André Borschberg Imagine power reserves that actually increase during the flight. To achieve this challenge, we had to draw every ounce of energy from every watt made available to us by the sun and store it in our batteries. Every form of energy efficiency was researched. Looking at the experiences of each member of the team and combining their potential has enabled us to find the appropriate solutions.
A watchmaker involved in the adventure
Principal partner of Solar Impulse since 2006, Omega has accompanied the Solar Impulse adventure with a number of technological contributions. The practical innovations contributed by the watch brand including a landing light system, a test bed enabling simulation and optimisation of the plane’s electric system and an Omega instrument that indicates the flight path.
To mark the occasion, Omega has created a 1,924-piece limited edition of the Speedmaster Skywalker X-33 Solar Impulse watch, available from Lionel Meylan.