In 2016 the Solar Impulse Mission managed to turn something previously deemed impossible come true: an ultralight aircraft with a pilot on board traveled around the world without fuel, feeding exclusively on solar energy.
The aim was to show what could really be done with clean technologies, promoting their use and research to generate a better quality of life and benefit the environment. It was a 40,000 kilometer flight with 10 stops along the way both to allow the two pilots to take turns and to retrieve all the information on material reaction and technology.
The aircraft was developed by a pool of companies and engineers from all over the world and flown by André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, to whom we owe this historical undertaking with epic moments like the five-day flight over the Pacific Ocean, from Japan to Hawaii. The departure from Abu Dhabi was planned with the aim of filling up with solar energy: the decisive variable for the success of the company was to be able to store it and release it during the night. Having solved this issue, the plane could fly continuously, while the team of engineers and meteorologists who supervised the route from Munich guaranteed its safety.
The other necessity was to achieve maximum lightness and isolation possible for the aircraft: the materials developed by Covestro, an international company that develops innovative plastics, made this possible.