12.09.16
Swiss eco-explorer Raphaël Domjan intends to write a new page in the history of solar energy from 2018 by reaching the stratosphere without using any other form of “fuel.”
CSEM quickly became interested by this human and technological adventure. It has since become associated with it by developing SolarStratos, the specially designed solar-energy modules that will used on the airplane’s wings, covering a surface close to 24 square meters.
The unique 8.5-meter-long aircraft has a wingspan of 24.8 meters, weighs 450 kilograms and is covered with 22 square meters of solar panels. It will be the first manned solar-powered aeroplane to penetrate the stratosphere.
“This is a great day for the SolarStratos team,” said Domjan, creator of PlanetSolar, the first solar-powered boat to do a circumnavigation in 2012 and the initiator and pilot of the SolarStratos project. “Our goal is to demonstrate that current technology offers us the possibility to achieve above and beyond what fossil fuels offer.”
The main requirement for ensuring the success of this project was the need for an ultra-light solution with maximum energy efficiency. CSEM has taken up this challenge, and has produced modules weighing 707 grams per square meter.
While climbing towards the stratosphere, SolarStratos will be subjected to temperatures of around –70 degrees. Various tests have been successfully conducted to ensure the reliability of the modules in the extreme climatic conditions of the stratosphere.
Initiated in 2014, the SolarStratos project is currently in the development phase. The roll tests, the first touch and go landings and the test flights will take place in February 2017, while the medium altitude flights are planned for the summer. Initial stratospheric flights are scheduled for 2018. Travelling to the stratosphere will take approximately five hours: 2.5 hours to reach space, 15 minutes of broad daylight and stars, then 3 hours to return to Earth.
CSEM quickly became interested by this human and technological adventure. It has since become associated with it by developing SolarStratos, the specially designed solar-energy modules that will used on the airplane’s wings, covering a surface close to 24 square meters.
The unique 8.5-meter-long aircraft has a wingspan of 24.8 meters, weighs 450 kilograms and is covered with 22 square meters of solar panels. It will be the first manned solar-powered aeroplane to penetrate the stratosphere.
“This is a great day for the SolarStratos team,” said Domjan, creator of PlanetSolar, the first solar-powered boat to do a circumnavigation in 2012 and the initiator and pilot of the SolarStratos project. “Our goal is to demonstrate that current technology offers us the possibility to achieve above and beyond what fossil fuels offer.”
The main requirement for ensuring the success of this project was the need for an ultra-light solution with maximum energy efficiency. CSEM has taken up this challenge, and has produced modules weighing 707 grams per square meter.
While climbing towards the stratosphere, SolarStratos will be subjected to temperatures of around –70 degrees. Various tests have been successfully conducted to ensure the reliability of the modules in the extreme climatic conditions of the stratosphere.
Initiated in 2014, the SolarStratos project is currently in the development phase. The roll tests, the first touch and go landings and the test flights will take place in February 2017, while the medium altitude flights are planned for the summer. Initial stratospheric flights are scheduled for 2018. Travelling to the stratosphere will take approximately five hours: 2.5 hours to reach space, 15 minutes of broad daylight and stars, then 3 hours to return to Earth.