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World's First Solar-Propelled Blimp To Cross English Channel

Posted by timothy on from the all-I've-got's-this-sunny-afternoon dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Can a blimp propelled entirely by solar power cross the English Channel? We're about to find out! Nephelios, the world's first solar blimp, was built by Projet Sol'r — a collaboration between students at engineering and technical schools in France. Now, almost a year after its debut (and a year after it was supposed to launch), the helium-filled airship is ready for action, with its inaugural flight set to take place next week. The blimp is covered in semi-flexible solar cells that can generate up to 2.4 kilowatts — enough to keep the blimp moving at 25 mph as it crosses la Manche."

24 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. English weather by MichaelSmith · · Score: 2, Funny

    Can a blimp propelled entirely by solar power cross the English Channel?

    Well not in winter obviously

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    http://michaelsmith.id.au
    1. Re:English weather by xaxa · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's 21C here in London, rising to 25C this afternoon. 30C at the weekend. I think they've chosen good weather for it :-)

  2. This sounds like a good idea. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's fly our sunlight-powered flying machine in the most overcast place on earth!

    1. Re:This sounds like a good idea. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Hey, if it works there....

    2. Re:This sounds like a good idea. by wisdom_brewing · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I believe that would be Hilo, Hawaii...

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      I am very sucseptible to "let's have another drink"
    3. Re:This sounds like a good idea. by mrjb · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Let's fly our sunlight-powered flying machine in the most overcast place on earth!

      Seems perfectly reasonable to me.
      First of all- the blimp is not going to crash- helium, not solar power, is what makes it fly. Solar power is just used to propel it.
      Second, it's possible to fly above the clouds.
      Third, it's going to fly across the channel. Even if it crashes, it's most likely to land on water.
      Fourth, aircraft regulations require avoiding densely populated areas if at all possible so even if it crashes on land, it will most likely miss any houses or other important buildings.
      Fifth, if against all odds said blimp crashes on land in a populated area, it's filled up with helium, not with hydrogen- so it won't burst into flames and as such it would be a lot less eventful than the Hindenburg. Which was a commercial craft anyway (with paying passengers on board), rather than a somewhat experimental craft attempting to cross the channel.

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    4. Re:This sounds like a good idea. by bipedalhominid · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, and if it does crash just think about all those folks wandering around talking in really high pitched voices.

      --
      This aint Daytona and you aint Dale Earnhardt. So stop trying to draft on Interstate 40.
    5. Re:This sounds like a good idea. by dave420 · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, Helium will not burn. It is simply impossible for it to oxidize.

  3. Top Gear by JazzXP · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As long as it's not like the blimp they tried to use on Top Gear. Big plans, didn't really go so well (winds being quite nasty for them).

    1. Re:Top Gear by SydShamino · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Crossing the English Channel with your special contraption doesn't hold any interest or awe for me any more. If Jeremy Clarkson can do it in a car boat of his own design, then any idiot can do it. Big deal.

      --
      It doesn't hurt to be nice.
  4. Desperation from France by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wow, and I thought people did crazy thinks to sneak over the border into the US. It's ok, guys, you can have another chance to get out of your group in four years! It's not the end of the world! Just don't try to mess with the Irish luck next time, they invented the four-leaf clover, you know.

    --
    Qxe4
    1. Re:Desperation from France by LaRainette · · Score: 2, Informative

      Dude, to go to England we take the train. It lasts less than 20 minutes.
      And don't make fun of this : my Grad School participate. Else I might cry.

  5. "We're about to find out!" by skine · · Score: 5, Funny

    "We're about to find out!"

    I think that these are the words that every scientist strives for.

    They don't come out too often, but when they do...

  6. Surely... by Jmanamj · · Score: 5, Funny

    The mammoth airship measures 72 feet long and 18 feet wide and has a nylon and polyethylene aluminum frame.

    Surely, with an airship so large, the earth will be plunged into darkness as it passes overhead!

  7. now that's quick! by sholdowa · · Score: 2, Interesting

    3HP and it'll do 25mph. Impressive.

    1. Re:now that's quick! by IflyRC · · Score: 2, Funny

      This is the future - an F22 Raptor with supersonic cruising speed uses too much oil and isn't green enough. We'll be dogfighting balloons in the 5HP military version.

  8. Oh Yeah? by sonicmerlin · · Score: 2, Funny

    I bet it can't record video at 720p like my cell phone!

  9. why is it dumb? 20 miles of floating is easy by fantomas · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why is it so dumb? With the wind in the right direction you can float over the Channel / La Manche with no power in a few hours anyway, it's only 20 miles or so at its narrowest point. They'll have a support boat so even if the blimp crash lands they'll be able to fish the pilot out.

    I'd say it's great university students are encouraged to take on technical challenges. I'd say the risks are pretty low (and I am sure they would have been thoroughly checked out by the universities, nobody wants their students dying).

  10. Re:Palm to the forehead by strack · · Score: 2, Insightful

    yeah. cause theres no possible use whatsoever for something that can stay in the sky, powered, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

  11. Ultimate greenness by estestvoispytatel · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It needs to be filled with the free range cow farts for extra green points.

  12. Re:Palm to the forehead by hairyfish · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Bleriot did it in 1909. The fact that there's a simple PV motor attached actually makes this less impressive than his original feat over a century ago. I could probably knock up a smaller yet equally effective version with parts from my local electronics shop. It might not be dumb, but it surely isn't news

  13. Solar-powered? by muzicman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Did they use solar power to create the helium? Since the helium produces the lift, to be solar-powered it would also need to produce the helium. Running a couple of propellers isn't new. Check out the Helios aircraft from NASA for a true solar-powered aircraft. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/history/pastprojects/Helios/

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    1. Re:Solar-powered? by selven · · Score: 3, Informative

      Did they use solar power to produce the metal and/or carbon fiber for that plane? If not, then by your argument the plane isn't solar powered either. The helium in the blimp is not being consumed like a fuel source, it's just a structural component like whatever other materials encase it. Helium just happens to passively have negative relative mass compared to the medium the blimp is flying in, which lets the blimp fly.

  14. Re:Palm to the forehead by LaRainette · · Score: 2, Informative

    DARPA (which I'm sure you know doesn't have the same kind of budget) has a project about a radar-equipped solar-propelled blimp that would float @ 10,000 meters and include a battery to stock the solar energy of they day for the night.
    They expect is to cruise at 60mph with top speed at 100mph. It is supposed to be operational in 2013

    This project could totally be adapted, with extra funding like the one they would get by crossing the Channel, with a bigger structure and a battery, to run day and night.