{"id":5280,"date":"2015-07-06T17:22:13","date_gmt":"2015-07-06T15:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lionel-meylan.ch\/actualite\/solar-impulse-flying-to-change-the-world\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T21:26:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T19:26:30","slug":"solar-impulse-flying-to-change-the-world","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/lionel-meylan.ch\/en\/actualite\/solar-impulse-flying-to-change-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Impulse Flying to change the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

This is also a tremendous gamble. A gamble taken on by Bertrand Piccard and Andr\u00e9 Borschberg, two pioneers obsessed with a strong determina\u00action to change the world, to surpass the bounds of feasibility in order to improve humanity\u2019s quality of life. \u201cSolar Impulse wasn\u2019t built to trans\u00acport passengers but to transport mes\u00acsages\u201d emphasises Bertrand Piccard. \u201cWe want to demonstrate the impor\u00actance of the pioneering spirit, and encourage people to question their convictions.\u201d A spirit of adventure, technical innovation, technological progress\u2026 To move from a dream to a project and from a project to a real\u00acity, 16 long years elapsed between the birth of the idea in Bertrand Piccard\u2019s mind in 1999 and its consecration in 2015.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cThe question now is not so much to know if man can go further and populate other planets, but rather to know how to organ\u00acise ourselves so as to make life on Earth increasingly worth living,\u201d said Auguste Piccard in 1931 following his first ascent into the stratosphere.<\/p>\n

With Solar Impulse, his grandson is pro\u00acviding part of the answer to changing the world. A response that is \u201csunny\u201d, ingenious\u2026 and radiantly bright!<\/p>\n

\"2014_06_02_FirstFlight_revillard_121\"<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Solar Impulse is…<\/h3>\n

1<\/strong> unique plane capable of flying day and night with neither petrol nor polluting emissions
\n12<\/strong> years of feasibility, design and construction studies
\n72<\/strong> metres of wingspan, bigger than a Boeing 747-800
\n17\u2019248<\/strong> solar cells incorporated into the wing to fuel four electric engines with renewable energy
\n2\u2019300<\/strong> kilograms, equivalent to the weight of a car
\n35\u2019000<\/strong> kilometres flown around the world at a speed of between 50 and 100 km\/h
\n2<\/strong> pilots who swap at every stop-off
\n80<\/strong> technicians and engineers mobilised around the world
\n25<\/strong> days of flying around the world in 2015<\/p>\n

\"Andr\u00e9-Borschberg,-Bertrand-Piccard-et-le-Solar-Impulse-\u00a9-Regis-Colombo---Diapo.ch\"Andr\u00e9 Borschberg, Bertrand Piccard and Solar Impulse \u00a9 Regis Colombo \/ Diapo.ch<\/span><\/small><\/p>\n

Comments from the pioneers<\/h3>\n

Bertrand Piccard <\/strong>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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9 Borschberg <\/strong>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.<\/span><\/p>\n

A watchmaker involved in the adventure<\/h3>\n

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\u2019s electric system and an Omega instrument that indicates the flight path.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

\"omega_speedmaster_skywalker_X33_solar_impulse_edition_limitee_X33_SI_318.92.45.79.03\"<\/p>\n

To mark the occasion, Omega has created a 1,924-piece limited edition of the Speedmaster Skywalker X-33 Solar Impulse<\/a> watch,\u00a0 available from Lionel Meylan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","blog_category":[385],"class_list":["post-5280","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","blog_category-adventure"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSolar Impulse Flying to change the world | Lionel Meylan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lionel-meylan.ch\/en\/actualite\/solar-impulse-flying-to-change-the-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Solar Impulse Flying to change the world | Lionel Meylan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Officially launched in 2003, Solar Impulse is an unusual technological adventure. 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