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28 Comments
- naturalpapa, on 11/17/2008, -0/+20That's awesome!
- JenniferInMO, on 11/18/2008, -0/+17Solar power is getting more and more viable, efficient and available. Every advance such as this one gets us one step closer!
- jodimcmullen, on 11/18/2008, -0/+14It’s notable to see someone somewhere looking beyond fossil fuels, just as Thomas Edison recommended in 1931 when he told Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone: “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."
- Zeitgeister, on 11/18/2008, -2/+11No landing in cloudy weather
- spammishking, on 11/18/2008, -1/+7And another day has been saved by Capt. Obvious
- shoover, on 11/18/2008, -0/+6I think cloudy weather would guarantee landing...
- no1digger, on 11/18/2008, -1/+6it has batteries for situations like that.
- Shiftgood, on 11/18/2008, -1/+6booooooo
- samotage, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3That's sweet. If they get their route right, they will be able to wave and thermal soar saving battery power, and even thermal soar at night.
- AllHereTruth, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3This gives the added element of 'fear' to flying in cloudy weather
- Ultomato, on 11/18/2008, -1/+4i think planes fly above clouds
- Farmer77, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2How about a solar powered monorail?
- osmaker, on 11/18/2008, -1/+3This is super cool.
But it's not much more than that. There's no possibly way *scientifically* that you'll ever be able to fit enough solar panels on something such as a passenger plane. I could see some cool spy plane stuff though done with this. - linagee, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2I for one, welcome our new Predator automated solar flying overlords. (Imagine a UAV that never has to land and never has to refuel.)
- linagee, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1@ranger45: lasers
@jeeky: batteries - XeXers, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1There could be lots of applications for this besides just carrying humans. It could be used as a spy plane or a cell phone tower or a cheap geo-sync satellite.
- inactive, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1not all.
- jeeky, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1Night time?
- WritertoWorld, on 11/19/2008, -0/+1Admittedly, flying a solar plane at night sounds like a bad joke, but that's not the issue.
The point here is that alternative energy has a wide spectrum of uses. If solar power can fly a plane around the world non-stop -- even at night -- it can heat and provide electricity for homes and businesses. We merely need the determination and will to see it through. It works.
It's amazing how few people realize the incredible potential in the alternative energy arena. Spread the word, folks! - jeeky, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1Fail.
- ranger45, on 11/18/2008, -0/+1Well, except for more ammunition.
- anniegarrison, on 11/18/2008, -1/+1And the U.S. Air Force is scheduled to be flying on clean coal liquid transpo fuel by 2011.
- Darthe, on 11/18/2008, -0/+0Solar-powered flight will always be a bit of a pipe dream.
The big problems remain creating high-efficiency solar cells to capture the energy, and an efficient way of storing the energy for night flying (the batteries involved are generally one of the heaviest components).
But then even if you could solve these challenges you've still only got an aircraft that can barely carry a single person, and the manufacturing costs to build/maintain such a craft would be huge. - Neiva, on 11/18/2008, -2/+1speeking of solar power, have any of you watched "what happened to the electric car?" it's crazy...
hopefully, things will change soon... - Snowspot, on 11/18/2008, -3/+2In what police are calling "an incident bordering on the bizarre" a solar-powered plane making it's inaugural flight across Iowa crashed killing 18 people. Among the dead were 17 children from Eagle Peak junior high and their eighth grade science teacher, Mrs. Shanner.
Investigators said the problem started when a solar eclipse took place halfway through the flight, meanwhile on the ground, in preparation for the eclipse, Mrs. Shanner's eighth grade science class put on their protective eyewear. Firefighters said they are still pulling limbs from the surrounding area. - grandhi, on 11/18/2008, -1/+0I heard that they don't use any alternative fuel or so, for world tour on this tiny one...is this correct?? if yes, how do they manage in case of emergency?
~ramki - betona, on 11/18/2008, -4/+1Get back to me when you have a solar-powered airliner capable of carrying 400 passengers non-stop LAX to Sidney. I'll be waiting.
- TekeeTakShak, on 11/18/2008, -8/+2But could it provide enough JIGAWATTS to run Crysis?
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