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A Solar Race Around the World

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the alvin-and-the-chipmunks-did-this dept.

garzpacho writes "In Switzerland, two teams are vying to be the first to circle the globe in a solar powered vehicle--one team in a boat, the other in an airplane. The boat, a two person trimaran, is the brainchild of PlanetSolar, who hopes to circumnavigate the world In 80 days. Solar Impulse is fielding the single-pilot plane, which will be capable of taking off under its own power and flying all night. Both groups hope to bring greater attention to solar power, which they believe is more appropriate for alternative transportation than for automobiles."

12 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. Daytime flights by MagicDude · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Solar powered airplanes make a lot of sense, since they fly above the cloud layer. During a day flight, they're exposed to a lot of sun. If plane could use this energy to fly, it could cut down on the amount of fuel required to fly. Obviously you'd carry a full fuel load because you don't want to be caught in a bind if the solar cells fail, but imagine the savings if you could reduce fuel consumption by something like 30% during day flights.

  2. Umm, yeah, I'll be a little late today... by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 4, Funny
    My car is under the weather.

    Literally.

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
  3. Solar-powered circumnavigation? Already done. by yls07 · · Score: 5, Insightful


    Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the wind "solar powered"? So humankind has been circumnavigating the globe in "solar-powered" boats for many centuries!

    Note: I know some wind currents are driven by the earth's rotation, but the earth rotates because it's orbiting the sun, right? Still solar-powered! :-)

  4. links in engilsh by mikesd81 · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you want the links in english instead of having to click on the little EN..

    http://www.solar-impulse.com/scripts/page7655.html

    http://www.planetsolar.org/planetsolar.en.shtml

    --
    That which does not kill me only postpones the inevitable.
  5. Stupid strategy by charlesbakerharris · · Score: 3, Funny
    ...the single-pilot plane, which will be capable of taking off under its own power and flying all night.

    Stupid, stupid, stupid. Everyone knows solar power is *WAY* more available during the day!

  6. Sailboat? by moosesocks · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wouldn't it be cheaper, faster, and more efficent to just use a sailboat instead of a solar-powered craft?

    --
    -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
    1. Re:Sailboat? by Plunky · · Score: 4, Interesting
      But not more reliable. Solar panels could be installed inside a hard shell of (say) lexan and easily survive a hurricane.

      Unfortunately a trimaran covered in solar panels is the worst kind of boat to be in during a hurricane, because its got lots of non removable surface area and its very light. A friend of mine was on board his trimaran during Hurricane Georges in 1998 and he was flipped three times.

      Sails and masts are likely to be damaged by the wind.

      Sails can be removed, and masts are very strong. I was on board my boat during Hurricane Lenny and the strength of the mast and rigging was not an issue. In olden times with weaker rigging it might have been, but they used to take spars down when not in use.

  7. Huh? by bm_luethke · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ok I'm bored and am going to complain about a slashdot summary - yes I know...

    "Both groups hope to bring greater attention to solar power, which they believe is more appropriate for alternative transportation than for automobiles."

    What? That doesn't make any sense. How does a plane flying around the world or a boat floating around the world affect my commute? I don't know about you guys but solar vs gas isn't what stops me from driving a boat or plane to work. That would be cool, commutes would be fun instead of boring traffic, though I bet if everyone did it there would be crashes galore (especially the planes). Plus - why do we have to choose solar power or cars - what I want a solar powered car?

    To be fair, one of the teams (boats), for some reason seems to make this comparison. I doubt there are many places where what they say is feasable. I don't care how effecient solar boats are - I can't drive one to work and I bet very very very few people in the whole freaking world can (of course, there are some - but then I bet alot of them do so to avoid traffic. It's no big deal to hit 60-70 in a boat and no traffic, not to mention the "fun" factor. I know I would do so in a heart beat).

    As to what the parent article said - I don't see why this makes a difference in perception. I find the challenge pretty neat and plan to follow it (no problems there - great geeky/tech story), but making it happen doesn't really change my commute in any way. Jeese, a wind powered boat made a world wide traversal a few hundred years ago (continent to continent a few thousand years ago) - doesn't make wind powered cars any more useful or practical. A solar transversal isn't going to change much either. Again - not that I don't think this is useful or neat (anything that advances our understanding is worth it - I'm fully aware that solving thier problems may lead to some great advances and wish them great success - I want to see our dependancy on oil vanish for a variety of reasons), if thier goal is to raise perception of solar powered commute this isn't the way.

    Back to geeking out - my bet is on the plane. Unless it's *really* slow I can't see it beating the boat. Especially given the plane can fly a fairly straight line (even with air space restrictions) compared to the boat. As to which will be made first - my bet is the boat. If the motor fails you still get to float, a plane loosing power is deadly.

    --
    ------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it
    1. Re:Huh? by Plunky · · Score: 3, Interesting
      How does a plane flying around the world or a boat floating around the world affect my commute?

      It captures the attention of the masses, and somebody steps up and says 'I want one of those' and somebody else steps up and says 'I want one something like that' and somebody else steps up and says 'I want one of those!' and the manufacturing of solar panels goes into overdrive and the price comes down and the capability goes up and its affordable to make solar powered buses and the city does that and makes them free for use to cut down on the traffic fumes and all of a sudden your life is better.

      Ok, its just the first step..

      It's no big deal to hit 60-70 in a boat

      Its quite a big deal to reach those kind of speeds in a boat. Its not like getting into a car and putting your foot down, think about what would happen to your car if there were 10cm bumps in the road, and 10cm bumps in the water is nothing.

  8. Re:Why fly at night? by CosmeticLobotamy · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you left in the morning and landed at night, you'd only need around 400-ish mph (1000 gets you constant time, 500 gets you 12 hours behind, assume a couple more than that of daylight). But still, that's a hell of a solar plane. The article might say if it can do that, but reading is hard and I don't wanna.

  9. My bet goes with the boat by mcrbids · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Didja take a look at that website about the solarplane? All kinds of mumbo about "pushing the envelope", and by the language, it's pretty clear that anything resembling construction is a *long* way off.

    But, any dolt could take a nice, efficient catamaran, replace the sales with a solar rigging and a trolling motor, load the boat down with some MREs, and start sailing.

    Not saying it'd be pleasant, but I'd rather sit on a Hobicat than try to get through the night in an ultralight plane knowing that battery life would just *barely* make it through the night, with almost no margin for error. (and yes, I'm a pilot)

    The kind of aspect ratio they're talking about would be mighty difficult to fly, since it would be very prone to flutter, and the difference between the cruising speed and the stall speed would be almost negligable!

    Not to mention having to be both very lightweight and also very strong...

    Scary!

    Better to fuel up a general aviation craft on butanol call it "green" and be done with it! Really, when you read up on it, butanol is some seriously cool stuff.

    1) It mixes freely with gasoline

    2) It burns like gasoline, in cars unmodified,

    3) It can be made from corn, wheat, cheese whey, just about any agricultural product or byproduct.

    4) It handles moisture much better than ethanol.

    5) It's possible to extract more energy (in BTU) as butanol from corn then as ethanol.

    Seriously, the fuel of the future for the United States is here, and it's butanol. (Bio-Diesel is probably more appropriate for Europe, where they have many more diesel cars than the US which is almost all gasoline-powered)

    Just as green, and much easier on the pilot!

    --
    I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
  10. Pretzel Logic, anyone? by Chapter80 · · Score: 3, Funny
    I contend that if you have an interest in promoting alternate fuel sources, you need to avoid the idea of Hybrids.

    The best way for alternative fuel sources to become popular is for them to become economically viable. By buying a hybrid engine (a hybrid car, for example), you are providing downward pressure on fossil fuel demand, and normal supply-and-demand economics tells us that this will provide downward pressure on fuel prices.

    Hybrids are a "half step" toward alternate energy sources. We need full steps. Want to help save the planet? Buy an SUV. Crank up those gas prices. This will help the case for alternate energy sources, by making them more economically attractive.

    Same goes for Hybrid airplanes.

    What do you think, can I win this argument?