Solar plane's journey comes to an end
27th Jul 2012
The epic journey of a plane powered by solar energy has come to an end, with the aircraft successfully landing in the Swiss city of Payerne.
It has been quite an adventure for pilot Bertrand Piccard and the Solar Impulse team, as the plane has travelled more than 6,000 kilometres across four countries and two continents.
Why was this feat so significant? This was the first intercontinental flight to be totally powered by solar electricity, so it could lead the way to some pretty impressive inventions in the future.
There is even potential for Australia to be one of the pioneers of clean transport, especially now providers have the carbon tax to contend with.
Now big businesses face this carbon pricing scheme, they will no doubt be looking for ways to cut back on their energy usage - and solar power could provide the answer!
It's unlikely to be any time soon that we see solar powered planes zooming through the skies, but the Solar Impulse team have shown that it is not beyond the realms of possibility.
One of the main barriers to this at the moment is the reliability of the technology, but there is likely to be someone, somewhere working on this as we speak!
Posted by Mike Peacock
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Solar Power