Vey inpressive seeing this airplane powered by solar panel.Are we heading more and more for solar panelled power source.Maybe the future panels only need light instead of sun power.
I know the cost has come down for solar panels has anybody else on here bought any lately?
In this area there is a massive investment for windpower in the Northsea.
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BBC report: www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31772140
Last edited by: Focusless on Mon 9 Mar 15 at 13:29
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The staying (sufficiently) awake bit sounds tricky. For parts of the journey the pilot will be in the air for 5 days and nights, in a cockpit "not a lot bigger than a public telephone box", while only being allowed catnaps of up to 20 mins :o
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They are trying to prove a point it looks tricky.Maybe the future is getting away from fossil fuel.Off the subject, I looked at fracking thinking that would be it.They are having a go in Groningen the north of Holland.Similair to the U.K try new things up North first.
Earthquakes and the amount of energy it takes to do fracking in the first place doesn't look promising.
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>> 5 days and nights, in a cockpit "not a lot
>> bigger than a public telephone box",
>>
Handy for peeing in though :)
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It's not the peeing but the other can get stinky.
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>> What is the point of it?
Wonder if they said that about the wheel?
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Solar power is one of the hopes for the future of the planet, ecologically, socially and economically. Therefore the point is that this is a research and perception step along the way.
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>> Solar power is one of the hopes for the future of the planet, ecologically, socially and economically. Therefore the point is that this is a research and perception step along the way.
Yes, broadly speaking.
But that aircraft is a marvellous contraption in its own right, able to stay aloft indefinitely (in theory at least).
I hope I live to see more advanced versions made with improved techniques and materials. Could be the privately owned non-power-guzzling individual flying machine is just over the horizon.
I'm not keen on flying myself but that's beside the point. Some people are afraid of cars and driving. 'Progress' doesn't always have to suit everyone. It just happens anyway.
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