Solar Impulse 2—Delay in Around the World Flight

There's been a fair amount of hype surrounding the Swiss Solar Impulse 2 project, an attempt to go around the world in a purely solar powered aircraft, 'without using a drop of fossil fuel'. It is being billed as a landmark flight, signifying a milestone in green aviation. However, in an effort to support the 'green movement' some media folks have left out some details.

Departing Abu Dhabi, Solar Impulse 2 got half-way in 200 days, but it is going nowhere until at least April this year. That's because its solar batteries overheated during a wrong flight pattern and have to be replaced. (1) The entire flight is supposed to be done 'solely' using renewable energy from the sun, and not use a single drop of aircraft fuel. But when one examines the flight more closely it turns out that the mission indeed involves a huge fossil fuel carbon footprint. The project was aimed at making the first solar powered 'solo flight' around the world and thus show the world the endless possibilities of solar power. Unfortunately, the only thing that has been 'endless' is the trip itself—and the costs. (2) Here are some facts from Pierre Gosselin: The mission involves a substitute pilot, a technical ground crew of 'dozens of people' and tons of equipment and logistical supplies that have to be flown behind using conventional charter flights. The 'fossil-fuel free' journey is in fact being made possible only with the use of tens of thousands of liters of aviation fuel. This is a fact that is being almost entirely ignored by the media. (3) The entire group, the team members, are multiple dozens of men and women, and have to fly behind in charter planes. This naturally is the less sustainable aspect of the entire project, but it just isn't possible any other way. This involves one cargo plane for transporting all the equipment, and a small passenger plane on which the entire group travels to destinations.

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Solar Impulse 2 was launched from Abu Dhabi amid much media fanfare on March 9, 2015. Almost 200 days later involving 8 legs, it is stuck in Hawaii and is not going anywhere for a while. Two setbacks stand out. In the most recent happenstance, the plane was forced to land in Hawaii because of 'irreversible damage' to its lithium ion battery system. A glitch that will be fixed and one can expect such happenings with a new venture. The other setback is more troubling since it has to do with the weather, something we humans can do nothing about. The solar plane is at the mercy of sun and breezes. It was held up at Nagoya, Japan due to bad weather conditions from a cold front. It was there for a month waiting for favorable winds, much like a 17th century galleon. (1) So the question is—how does one deal with poor weather conditions—lack of sun, heavy cloud cover , bad wind conditions, etc.? An example: when folks mention Florida one thought that comes to mind is plenty of sunshine. Not always so! A full third of the days in Tampa are mostly cloudy, with at least 70 percent cloud cover. Rooftop solar panels at the county courthouse in Tampa are producing less than half their promised power. (4) In most other states, and particularly northern states and states east of the Rockies, solar power is less productive than in Florida. Although solar power is less than half its promised power at Tampa's courthouse, the solar panels would have performed even more poorly in other states. How would this affect Solar Impulse 2? How many more interruptions like the one that occurred in Japan will be encountered? Instead of bringing attention to the technology's potential, the project has only managed to show the glaring limitations of solar power technology. (2) Jack Dini Livermore, CA References 1. Tony Thomas, “Stranded Monster,” The Spectator, January 16, 2016 2. Piere Gosselin, “Engineering basket case:$250 million Solar Impulse 2 becomes a symbol of green delusionism,” notrickszone.com, January 16, 2016 3. Pierre Gosseling, “Solar Impulse 2 flight around the world 'without a drop of fuel will burn tens of thousands of liters,” notrickszone.com, March 15, 2015 4. James M. Taylor, “Tampa's rooftop solar panels fail to meet promise,” Environment & Climate News, 17, 6, September 2014