Impulse 2, The First Solar Plane to Fly Around the World, Travels 43 KM Without Using a Drop of Fuel

Written by Valdemar Medeiros

Published on 20/09/2022 at 12:10

Updated on 20/09/2022 at 20:42

Ao aterrissar em Abu Dhabi, o Solar Impulse 2 percorreu mais de 40 mil Laurent Gillieron/EFE/VEJA

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The First Solar-Powered Airplane To Fly Around The World Can Reach Over 43 Thousand Km.

The Impulse 2, the first solar-powered airplane to fly around the world, has the wingspan of a Boeing 747, with 4 electric motors. The model, which uses solar energy as fuel, can travel 43 thousand kilometers without polluting the environment and just achieved a new record of 97% efficiency with its 4 propellers.

Solar Airplane Features Over 17 Thousand Photovoltaic Cells

YouTube video — *Solar Airplane Impulse – The Round The World Journey*

The Solar Impulse is a solar-powered airplane project proposed by the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), located in Switzerland.

The school is spearheaded by Bertrand Piccard, who focuses on building airplanes capable of traveling around the world using solar energy without burning fuel. The solar airplane is the same size as the famous Boeing 747 but weighs only about 1.5 tons.

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Electric Motors of The Airplane That Does Not Use Fuel Lose Only 3% Of Energy

The solar-powered airplane can be considered a large mobile laboratory, featuring various high-level technologies that make it possible for the vehicle to generate large amounts of solar energy and store all this electricity, in addition to using it more efficiently.

With a high efficiency rate of 97% in its electric motors, the solar airplane has only 27% efficiency in its thermal motors, meaning that the airplane’s propellers that do not use fuel lose only 3% of their energy. In contrast, combustion-powered motors can lose up to 73% of energy.

Airbus Develops Solar-Powered Drone

According to data from August from the U.S. Army, a solar-powered drone crashed after flying for over two months. The vehicle, named Zephy-8, produced by the European group Airbus, encountered events that ended its journey over the Yuma desert in Arizona on August 18.

The site Simple Flying, responsible for tracking flights, stated that the equipment reached an altitude of between 45 thousand and 50 thousand feet and quickly began to descend.

The drone has a wingspan of over 25 meters and weighs over 75 kilograms. The solar-powered Zephy-8 more than doubled the records for unmanned flights.

Impulse 2, The First Solar Plane to Fly Around the World, Travels 43 KM Without Using a Drop of Fuel

The First Solar-Powered Airplane To Fly Around The World Can Reach Over 43 Thousand Km.

Solar Airplane Features Over 17 Thousand Photovoltaic Cells

Electric Motors of The Airplane That Does Not Use Fuel Lose Only 3% Of Energy

Airbus Develops Solar-Powered Drone

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Impulse 2, The First Solar Plane to Fly Around the World, Travels 43 KM Without Using a Drop of Fuel

The First Solar-Powered Airplane To Fly Around The World Can Reach Over 43 Thousand Km.

Solar Airplane Features Over 17 Thousand Photovoltaic Cells

Electric Motors of The Airplane That Does Not Use Fuel Lose Only 3% Of Energy

Airbus Develops Solar-Powered Drone

Seen from space, an image taken by an astronaut shows an unlikely oasis in the Saudi Arabian desert, protected by a terrain that slows the advance of sand, surrounded by green circles, remnants of an extinct lake and nearly 10,000 years of preserved history.

The oldest tree in the world, alive since before the birth of Jesus Christ, is cut down in a scientific study and the case changes environmental preservation rules.

An entire island in the Pacific wants to surround itself with a colossal barrier against the ocean to try to escape increasingly violent waves and not be swallowed by the sea in the coming decades.

Peru built a tunnel at an altitude of 4,738 meters cutting through the Andes Mountains, and the road leading to it reaches 4,818 meters, making it the highest paved road in the entire world.

In the Saudi Arabian desert, the world’s largest green hydrogen plant is 80% complete and will use 4 gigawatts of solar and wind energy to produce 600 tons of clean fuel per day when it opens in 2027.

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