Si2

The Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) airplane has completed its three-day, two-night journey across the Pacific Ocean.

Controlled by Bertrand Piccard, the single-seater aircraft took off from Hawaii and landed safely at the Moffett Airfield, California, US, which is the home to Nasa’s Ames Research Centre and Google’s Planetary Ventures.

With 17,248 solar cells built into the wing powering the four batteries of the aircraft, Si2 crossed 4,523km over the Pacific.

With the completed flight, Si2 claims to break several world records, including distance, speed, duration and altitude in the electric airplane category, as well as altitude in the solar airplane category.

During its first part of the journey across the Pacific, Si2 was controlled by André Borschberg in a five-day, five-night flight from Japan to Hawaii last July.

"Solar Impulse is a demonstration of energy efficiency and smart energy management."

Bertrand Piccard began Solar Impulse to promote a pioneering and new spirit, particularly in the fields of renewable energy and clean technologies.

Solar Impulse initiator and chairman Bertrand Piccard said: "Solar Impulse showcases that today exploration is no longer about conquering new territories, because even the moon has already been conquered, but about exploring new ways to have a better quality of life on earth.

"It is more than an airplane: it is a concentration of clean technologies, a genuine flying laboratory, and illustrates that solutions exist today to meet the major challenges facing our society."

The Solar Impulse project has been supported by Solvay, Omega, Schindler, ABB, Google, Altran, Covestro, Swiss Re, Swisscom Moët Hennessy, Masdar and others.

The partners involved in the project are attempting the first round-the-world solar flight with Si2, and latest flight from Hawaii to California is the ninth leg of the round-the-world solar flight that will continue onward to New York, US; Europe or North Africa and Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

The journey started from Abu Dhabi last March.

Solar Impulse CEO and co-founder André Borschberg said: "Solar Impulse is a demonstration of energy efficiency and smart energy management, similar to a flying grid.

"This is what we may be doing in our communities, our cities and our countries. To have a decentralised renewable energy production, using solar, thermal, wind.

"To use efficient ways to store and manage energy, because the times at which we need it is not necessarily the times at which we produce it."

Image: With 17,248 solar cells built into the wing powering the aircraft’s four batteries, Si2 crossed 4,523km across the Pacific. Photo: courtesy of Solar Impulse.