Don't Laugh at Solar-Powered Airplanes. They Could Transform Aviation in ... - Slate Magazine
When I mentioned to someone in the fossil-fuel business that a plane had just crossed half the Pacific on solar power, the answer came, “Why. The Solar Impulse went about 40 mph, and its batteries were sufficiently damaged by the journey that the next leg of its trek has been delayed. The Cricri, one of the channel-crossing planes, topped out at about 90 miles per hour. These one- and two-seaters can’t carry a significant number of passengers or any cargo to speak of. Jet fuel is cheap and plentiful—by recent historical standards—and planes that run on it are remarkably fast and safe. The loud, belching steamboat Robert Fulton launched on the Hudson River in 1807 was dubbed “Fulton’s Folly” by observers. Henry Ford’s first cars were clanking, clattering, high-end menaces. When they first appeared, each of these transport modes was a one-off—an expensive home kit produced by hobbyists. The same cycle can be seen with both renewable energy and electricity storage—the two phenomena that made the Solar Impulse’s journey possible. Forty years ago, solar panels were toys for hobbyists or off-the-grid hippies. Source: www.slate.com
