Plane Powered By Solar Photovoltaics

One of the cool features of living in a society that is built around the advancements of science is that we constantly see demonstrations of cutting-edge technologies in ways that, while they may not be terrifically practical, show how far we’ve come and what might be possible in the future.  In 1927, Charles Lindbergh (pictured) became the first person to make a solo flight across the Atlantic – not because such a voyage served a useful purpose, but to show that it could be done, and to celebrate the advancements that have been made since the Wright brothers did their thing 24 years earlier.

Fast-forward 87 years, and check this out: a flight around the world powered by nothing but the sun, solar photovoltaics in particular.  Again, the feat itself may not be horribly useful, but the technology required to make it happen certainly is.  Largely we’re talking about materials science: constantly aiming to build things using less stuff – making them lighter and stronger than ever before.

My new-found friend from the Tesla Foundation (whom I mentioned in yesterday’s post on the subject) talked about the transformations in the private jet industry ushered in by carbon fiber.  Due to light-weighting, a jet of the same form-factor that used to carry a price tag of $15 million is now only $4 million, and fuel savings are astounding.

Onward and upward, as my mother likes to say.