[url=http://uk.news.yahoo.com/solar-plane-makes-first-international-flight-120531552.html]Source[/url]
[quote]A solar energy plane made the world's first international flight powered by the sun on Friday to show the potential for pollution-free air travel.
The Solar Impulse took off from an airfield at Payerne in western Switzerland and landed at Brussels airport after a 13-hour flight.
The pilot and project leaders Andre Borshberg and Bertrand Piccard said it had been a major challenge to fit a slow-flying plane into the commercial air traffic system.
With an average flying speed of 44 mph, Solar Impulse is not an immediate threat to commercial jets, which can easily cruise at more than 10 times the speed. A flight from Geneva from Brussels can take little more than an hour.
But it was a huge day for the founders who wanted the whole world to see what can be achieved with existing, renewable energy.
During the flight Borshberg said it was "symbolic to be able to go from one place to another using solar energy" - a glimpse at a less polluting future.
Piccard said it was also proof that Friday the 13th is a propitious day after all.
After a whole day spent drifting quietly through the air Borshberg said he was having trouble coming back down to earth.[/quote]
[img]http://www.islandcrisis.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/solarimpulse.jpg[/img]
[url=http://uk.news.yahoo.com/video/itnworldnewsnew-5127647/first-international-solar-flight-25228910.html]Video[/url]
And people say solar power is useless....
Sadly, just 44 miles per hour.
Great symbolic value though.
that's not pollution free :colbert:
Hopefully we will hear of this again, and they will make solar airliners
[QUOTE=Gaza Pen Pal;29825111]that's not pollution free :colbert:[/QUOTE]
How is it not?
Another amazing invention we'll never hear of ever again as the Big Oil companies buy it out to exterminate even a possibility of competition. :colbert:
[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;29825254]Another amazing invention we'll never hear of ever again as the Big Oil companies buy it out to exterminate even a possibility of competition. :colbert:[/QUOTE]
Actually this time, it might survive because the big plane developers will take a look.
[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;29825254]Another amazing invention we'll never hear of ever again as the Big Oil companies buy it out to exterminate even a possibility of competition. :colbert:[/QUOTE]
Or that doesn't become widespread because it has a top speed of 44 fucking miles an hour
[editline]14th May 2011[/editline]
Don't get me wrong, this is awesome, but it's not competitive yet.
It probably has other uses which I haven't thought of though.
[QUOTE=Turnips5;29825282]Or that doesn't become widespread because it has a top speed of 44 fucking miles an hour
[editline]14th May 2011[/editline]
Don't get me wrong, this is awesome, but it's not competitive yet.
It probably has other uses which I haven't thought of though.[/QUOTE]
Oh lordy! The first version can only go so fast!
Go look at the original planes and cars and then come back, thank you.
[QUOTE=Swilly;29825320]Oh lordy! The first version can only go so fast!
Go look at the original planes and cars and then come back, thank you.[/QUOTE]
There's a limit to the efficiency of solar panels.
[QUOTE=Swilly;29825249]How is it not?[/QUOTE]
creating the massive amount of solar panels that the plane needs to fly creates quite a bit of pollution
[QUOTE=Turnips5;29825282]Or that doesn't become widespread because it has a top speed of 44 fucking miles an hour
[editline]14th May 2011[/editline]
Don't get me wrong, this is awesome, but it's not competitive yet.
It probably has other uses which I haven't thought of though.[/QUOTE]
Because we can see the full potential of a technology right after the first prototype was built
[QUOTE=Laserbeams;29825399]Because we can see the full potential of a technology right after the first prototype was built[/QUOTE]
There is a FUCKING LIMIT to how FUCKING EFFICIENT fucking SOLAR PANELS can BE
I'll repeat it a third time if you want
You could maybe use it for flights between cities, though you'd need alot more runways.
There's only so much energy in the small amount of area illuminated by sunlight.
Of course there's a limit to how efficient solar panels can be, there's a limit to everything, that doesn't mean we should just abandon technology, we should try to reach that limit first.
[QUOTE=lunarwalrus;29825467]You could maybe use it for flights between cities, though you'd need alot more runways.[/QUOTE]
See, this is a good idea
[editline]14th May 2011[/editline]
I'll put it this way : there's a limit to the solar intensity on earth.
It's roughly 1400 watts per square metre, averaging out at 250 W/m^2 (check out the Solar Impulse website if you don't believe me). Meaning you'd need a ridiculously huge surface area to even think about getting something like, say, a jumbo jet off the ground.
[QUOTE=Turnips5;29825532]See, this is a good idea
[editline]14th May 2011[/editline]
I'll put it this way : there's a limit to the solar intensity on earth.
It's roughly 1400 watts per square metre, averaging out at 250 W/m^2 (check out the Solar Impulse website if you don't believe me). Meaning you'd need a ridiculously huge surface area to even think about getting something like, say, a jumbo jet off the ground.[/QUOTE]
Rated informative, hopefully in 10-20 years they'll be more efficient (i'm sure they'll figure out a way)
[QUOTE=Turnips5;29825454]There is a FUCKING LIMIT to how FUCKING EFFICIENT fucking SOLAR PANELS can BE
I'll repeat it a third time if you want[/QUOTE]
Proof?
[QUOTE=Swilly;29826093]Proof?[/QUOTE]
Laws of thermodynamics, efficiency can never be greater than 100%
[editline]14th May 2011[/editline]
Also I realised when I said "efficiency of solar panels" I really meant "limit to energy available in solar radiation".
In a couple of years time they will have mirrors in space reflecting concentrated light onto the planes.
they should use solar powered planes for short trips and use fossil fuel planes for larger trips.
[QUOTE=FalconKrunch;29826265]Look 2 posts up.[/QUOTE]
I did. I am satisfied...kinda.
[QUOTE=Swilly;29826552]I did. I am satisfied...kinda.[/QUOTE]
250 watts is roughly equivalent to the power an 80 kg person needs to move vertically upwards at a third of a metre per second (with the gravity equal to that at the earth's surface).
[QUOTE=Turnips5;29826728]250 watts is roughly equivalent to the power an 80 kg person needs to move vertically upwards at a third of a metre per second (with the gravity equal to that at the earth's surface).[/QUOTE]
No I mean, sources would be nice. I'm not trying to say you're talking out your ass but how do exactly know this and how can I trust you're a reputable source. Paranoia and a friend making me realize how shitty Facepunch is when it comes to forming arguments.
[QUOTE=Kingy_why;29826342]In a couple of years time they will have mirrors in space reflecting concentrated light onto the planes.[/QUOTE]
[img]http://nurtz.com/upload/mirror.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=Swilly;29826767]No I mean, sources would be nice. I'm not trying to say you're talking out your ass but how do exactly know this and how can I trust you're a reputable source. Paranoia and a friend making me realize how shitty Facepunch is when it comes to forming arguments.[/QUOTE]
I paid attention in physics lessons. That's my source, but I'll explain it in the interest of science.
The watt is a unit of power. Power is the rate of energy change, that is, energy divided by time.
In one second, a 250 watt source of energy will output 250 joules of energy.
Then I used the formula
gravitational potential energy = mass * acceleration due to gravity 'g' * height
250 = 80 * 9.81 * h
h = 0.31 metres (rounded)
Now if you have a power source at 250W, you're expending 250 joules per second, so you can do the 0.31 metres every second, hence 0.31 metres per second.
[editline]14th May 2011[/editline]
This example doesn't have anything to do with jumbo jets taking off. It's just so you can see how much power 250W is.
The math in the article doesn't add up at all.
First it claims that the flight (Payerne-Brussels) took 13 hours. Later it says a similar route (Geneva-Brussels) takes 1 hour at the same speed. Now, I know Payerne and Geneva aren't exactly the same place, but they're not 13 times as far away as Brussels.
Finally, I plugged the numbers into WolframAlpha. It did not make a happy face. In fact, it came up with completely different numbers - Payerne to Brussels at 44mph should take 6.8 hours, Geneva to Brussels at 44mph should take 7.5 hours.
I half-suspect someone didn't convert from km/h to mi/h right when writing this article.
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