Solar-powered plane lands in Hawaii after flight from Japan
KAPOLEI, Hawaii — A plane powered by the sun's rays landed in Hawaii Friday after a record-breaking five-day journey across the Pacific Ocean from Japan.
Pilot Andre Borschberg and his single-seat aircraft landed at Kalaeloa, a small airport outside Honolulu. His 120-hour voyage from Nagoya broke the record for the world's longest nonstop solo flight, his team said. The late U.S. adventurer Steve Fossett set the previous record of 76 hours when he flew a specially-designed jet around the globe in 2006.
But Borschberg flew the Solar Impulse 2 without fuel. Instead, its wings were equipped with 17,000 solar cells that charged batteries. The plane ran on stored energy at night.
The engineless aircraft landed in silence, the only sound the hum of a nearby helicopter. About 200 people, including the media, witnessed the touch-down shortly before 6 a.m.
Later in the morning, Borschberg called the flight an extraordinary experience, saying it marked historical firsts for aviation and for renewable energy.
"Nobody now can say that renewable energies cannot do the impossible," he said. Asked what was the most challenging part of the journey, he said it was when he and fellow Swiss co-pilot Bertrand Piccard had to decide when exactly to leave Japan, which he called a tough decision.
Borschberg stayed put for about an hour before finally standing and emerging from the plane. Before exiting, he was approached by customs personnel who asked to see his passport. Some in the waiting crowd waved Swiss flags, and dignitaries shook his hand. Piccard also greeted him and six girls sang a welcoming song in Hawaiian.
Ground crews pushed the plane toward a hangar, where a celebratory attitude waited along with leis and hula dancers.
The plane's ideal flight speed is about 28 mph though that can double during the day when sun's rays are strongest. The carbon-fiber aircraft weighs over 5,000 pounds or about as much as a minivan or mid-sized truck.
Borschberg and Piccard have been taking turns flying the plane on an around-the-world trip since taking off from Abu Dhabi in March. After Hawaii, it will head to Phoenix and then New York.
The project, which began in 2002 and is estimated to cost more than $100 million, is meant to highlight the importance of renewable energy and the spirit of innovation. Solar-powered air travel is not yet commercially practical, however, given the slow travel time, weather and weight constraints of the aircraft.
The plane is visiting Hawaii just as the state has embarked on its own ambitious clean energy project. Gov. David Ige last month signed legislation directing Hawaii's utilities to generate 100 percent of their electricity from renewable energy resources by 2045. The utilities currently get 21 percent of their power from renewable sources.
Borschberg took naps and practiced yoga to cope with the long hours.
"Yoga is a huge support for this flight above the Pacific: it positively affects my mood and mindset," he wrote in a tweet from the plane on Thursday.
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Marco Garcia contributed to this report.
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Corrects long headline to reflect that only one pilot was onboard at time of landing.
Read more at:http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/solar-powered-plane-lands-in-hawaii-after-flight-from-japan/ar-AAcv6er?ocid=iehp
Friday, July 3, 2015
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Tesla To Launch $35K Model 3 In 2017
Learn more at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/7ff8679353396a2d860a342b668c915f.htm
Solar Power Set To Provide Record 15% of UK's Power
Sunny weather and a recent surge in solar panel installations means that solar power could provide a record 15% of the UK’s electricity on Friday afternoon.
Torrid heat tends to slightly reduce solar panels’ generating capacities, and with fresher conditions forecast across much of the UK, the amount of solar in the electricity mix could reach a new peak at 2pm tomorrow.
“It is hard to say if a record will be set but given that more and more solar is installed every day, it is likely that a new record is set every time we have good conditions now - and this week we are certainly having them,” said a spokeswoman for the Solar Trade Association (STA), which made the prediction.
A new clean energy record would be a boost for the solar industry which celebrates its annual ‘solar independence day’ tomorrow with open house events across the UK. Energy minister Andrea Leadsom will be visiting one solar farm at a leisure centre in Brackley, Northamptonshire.
Solar photovoltaic installations have soared recently in the UK, partly due to developers rushing to meet a change in subsidy regime in April. There are now around 700,000 small-scale installations now on the grid, enough to power over 655,000 households, according to government figures. Britain is currently installing solar capacity more quickly than any other European country.
The supermarket giant Waitrose today announced that it had installed enough solar panels on the roof of one of its dairy farms in Leckford to power the lighting and milking equipment.
Globally, another solar milestone was passed today with installed solar capacity of 200GW now available to meet global demand, according to BSW, the German solar trade association.
“Through technological breakthroughs in mass production the prices for solar electricity could be decreased by 90%,” said David Wedepohl, a BSW spokesman. “In around 30 countries worldwide electricity from your own roof now costs less than what your local provider will charge you per kilowatt hour.”
With a 36% annual growth rate, the solar photovoltaic industry is mushrooming so fast at the moment that some analysts expect that half the current global total will be being installed every year by 2020.
The cumulative market at that point would be around 700GW, roughly equivalent to the size of all the electrical generating capacity in Europe today, if the predictions by Greentechmedia prove correct.
The biggest cloud on the horizon for solar energy is how to store the tremendous amounts of energy it can instantaneously produce for later use – or dispatch it via interconnectors to meet demand across Europe.
A draft EU market design paper due to be launched on 15 July calls for cross-border short-term markets that are responsive to local demand, and enable the trading of large volumes of renewable power, such as solar.
Read more at:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/02/solar-power-provide-record-15-uk-power
Monday, June 1, 2015
Tesla working on house battery - Tesla Power Wall For Home
Tesla Power Wall For Home
More information coming.
Read more at:
http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall
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