{"id":18160,"date":"2018-01-08T05:09:27","date_gmt":"2018-01-07T18:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=18160"},"modified":"2024-08-06T13:04:37","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T03:34:37","slug":"electric-plane-australia-mb0403","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/electric-plane-australia-mb0403\/","title":{"rendered":"Electric Plane Takes First Flight In Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18162\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/electric-airplane.jpg\" alt=\"Pipistrel Alpha Electro electric plane - Australia\" width=\"700\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/electric-airplane.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/electric-airplane-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Last week reportedly saw the first time a certified electric aircraft has flown in Australia &#8211; a Pipistrel Alpha Electro owned by Electro.Aero that successfully completed test flights in Perth.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pipistrel.si\/plane\/alpha-electro\/overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pipistrel Alpha Electro<\/a> is a two-seat light sport aircraft closely based on the Pipistrel Alpha petrol-engine trainer. Weighing just 350 kilograms including its lithium-ion batteries, the plane can carry a payload of 200 kilograms. It has a flight time of 60 minutes, plus reserve, and is able to take off at full maximum weight with a run of just 150 metres.<\/p>\n<p>Its range at a cruising speed of 85 knots (157 km\/h) is 120 kilometres, including take-off and landing. Recharging the 21 kilowatt-hour battery pack using a &#8220;supercharger&#8221; only takes an hour.<\/p>\n<p>Alpha Electro has a 60kW outrunner type electric motor providing direct-drive to the three-blade 1.65 metre diameter propeller. Motor and inverter cooling is provided by a fluid based system (50% anti-freeze and 50% water) and radiator.<\/p>\n<p>Alpha Electro&#8217;s energy storage is contained in two boxes that house the battery cells, battery management systems and communication modules, power and signal connectors. The plane will function with only one of the battery boxes connected, but with substantially reduced performance. In the case of failure of one battery box, the system will automatically switch to a single-battery mode.<\/p>\n<p>In the hopefully unlikely event of things going even more pear-shaped and a battery system fire occurring, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pipistrel.si\/en\/file\/download\/1350_ac417e1dd2a\/POH-165-0040-001_A00.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the manual<\/a> for the Pipistrel Alpha Electro offers this handy tip:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Land and leave the aircraft as soon as possible.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As with fossil fuels, once lithium-ion batteries are on fire, it&#8217;s best to skedaddle.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to being emissions-free (assuming renewables- based charging) and cheaper to operate, the Pipistrel Alpha Electro is very quiet.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;This is the start of the next revolution in general aviation,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flightsafetyaustralia.com\/2018\/01\/electric-aircraft-takes-off\/#:~:text=On%202%20January%2C%20a%20small,aircraft%20to%20fly%20in%20Australia.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> said<\/a> Electro.Aero Finance Director, Richard Charlton. &#8220;We are already fielding enquiries from airports located in major cities where noise complaints have become their number one concern.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>ABC <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2018-01-04\/first-electric-plane-passenger-flights-in-australia-to-rottnest\/9304424\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reports<\/a> the plane may be used for flights to Rottnest Island soon and discussions have been held with Rottnest Island Authority regarding potentially installing a supercharger on the island to draw from Rottnest&#8217;s solar array. The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rottoturbine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rottnest Wind Turbine<\/a>, which has its own Twitter account,\u00a0 may be feeling a little left out; but is yet to comment on the proposal.<\/p>\n<p>Rottnest Island&#8217;s solar farm is a 600kW installation featuring 8,000 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/panels\/cost\/\"> solar panels<\/a> that feed electricity into the island&#8217;s grid. Between solar power and Rottnest&#8217;s wind turbine, renewables now account for 45 per cent of the island&#8217;s energy production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week reportedly saw the first time a certified electric aircraft has flown in Australia &#8211; a Pipistrel Alpha Electro owned by Electro.Aero that successfully completed test flights in Perth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":18162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[678],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solar-battery-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Electric Plane Takes First Flight In Australia - SolarQuotes Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last week reportedly saw the first time a certified electric aircraft has flown in Australia - a Pipistrel Alpha Electro owned by Electro.Aero\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/electric-plane-australia-mb0403\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Electric Plane Takes First Flight In Australia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week reportedly saw the first time a certified electric aircraft has flown in Australia - a Pipistrel Alpha Electro owned by Electro.Aero\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/electric-plane-australia-mb0403\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-07T18:39:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-06T03:34:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/electric-airplane.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"467\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Bloch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/electric-plane-australia-mb0403\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/electric-plane-australia-mb0403\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Bloch\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66afd571aa00c2e442f0192ebac2f6f1\"},\"headline\":\"Electric Plane Takes First Flight In Australia\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-07T18:39:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-06T03:34:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/electric-plane-australia-mb0403\/\"},\"wordCount\":429,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/electric-plane-australia-mb0403\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/electric-airplane.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"General Solar &amp; 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Built in partnership with UK's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"PHASA-35 - BAE Systems","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/phasa-35-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/phasa-35-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/phasa-35-solar.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/phasa-35-solar.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/phasa-35-solar.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42574,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-stratos-skydive-mb1658\/","url_meta":{"origin":18160,"position":1},"title":"Solar-Powered Skydive From SolarStratos","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"August 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"What's claimed to be the first ever free-fall and skydive from a from an electric plane occurred yesterday (Australian time). That may be a little ho-hum for the non-skydivers among us, but the plane certainly isn't. Powered by solar energy harvested by the plane's wings and stored in a battery\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SolarStratos - solar powered electric plane","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/solarstratos-skydive.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/solarstratos-skydive.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/solarstratos-skydive.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/solarstratos-skydive.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/solarstratos-skydive.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23401,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-drone-record-mb0702\/","url_meta":{"origin":18160,"position":2},"title":"New World Record Claim For Solar Powered Drone Flight","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"August 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Airbus Defence and Space is claiming a new world record for the maiden flight recently completed by its fully solar powered Zephyr S HAPS (High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite) - 25 days, 23 hours and 57 minutes. \"This very successful maiden flight represents a new significant milestone in the Zephyr programme, adding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar powered Zephyr drone","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/solar-zephyr-record.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/solar-zephyr-record.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/solar-zephyr-record.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/solar-zephyr-record.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22469,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/sunpower-solarstratos-stratosphere-mb0639\/","url_meta":{"origin":18160,"position":3},"title":"SunPower Cells To Fly High On SolarStratos","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"June 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"SunPower has announced it is the solar cell provider for the next-generation SolarStratos - a solar powered plane that aims to be the first to cruise the Earth's stratosphere. The stratosphere is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere. At mid latitudes, the stratosphere starts at 10\u201313 kilometres above the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SolarStratos - powered by SunPower solar cells","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/solarstratos-sunpower.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/solarstratos-sunpower.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/solarstratos-sunpower.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/solarstratos-sunpower.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25800,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/alpha-ess-battery-subsidy-mb0825\/","url_meta":{"origin":18160,"position":4},"title":"Alpha-ESS To Manufacture Solar Battery Systems In Adelaide","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"November 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Sonnen is no longer the only game in town for heavily subsidised energy storage in South Australia, with an announcement yesterday Alpha-ESS had joined the Home Battery Scheme. SA's Home Battery Scheme began accepting subsidy applications on October 29. Battery systems that are or will be manufactured\/assembled in the state\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alpha ESS batteries - SA Home Battery Scheme","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/alpha-ess-battery.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/alpha-ess-battery.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/alpha-ess-battery.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/alpha-ess-battery.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":59000,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/eve-evtol-aviair-mb2360\/","url_meta":{"origin":18160,"position":5},"title":"eVTOL Aircraft To Take Off In Western Australia","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"February 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Up to 50 new electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft may be flying Western Australian skies, with the first flights as early as 2026. A partnership between Aviair, HeliSpirit and Eve Air Mobility is intended to result in zero-emission flights to some of Western Australia\u2019s most iconic tourism attractions;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/evtol-western-australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/evtol-western-australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/evtol-western-australia.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/evtol-western-australia.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/evtol-western-australia.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18160"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85786,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18160\/revisions\/85786"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}