This solar plane claims a new altitude record. He stole so high that he even met an airliner. If in itself, this is good news, we are very far from a scenario in which these solar aircraft replace conventional systems. You will quickly understand why.
Aviation is an absolutely decarbon sector, knowing that it alone represents up to 3 % of global CO₂ emissions. The main efforts are to improve the energy efficiency of the vehicles and to “green” fuels by replacing them with the famous sustainable aviation fuels.
However, this does not prevent us from considering other strategies, because at the time of climate emergency, all solutions deserve to be studied. Among these, there are for example solar aircraft. They operate thanks to an electric propulsion system powered by solar electricity. The photovoltaic panels are thus arranged on the wings.
Several projects explore this new track. In Switzerland, we find in particular the Solarstratos project initiated by the Swiss pilot Raphaël Domjan. The ultimate goal is to reach the stratosphere, only thanks to solar energy. The bet is still far from being reached, but Domjan is getting closer to it.
Almost 10,000 meters above sea level
On August 12, the Swiss pilot Raphaël Domjan took control of the HB-SXA Solarstratos, a carbon fiber solar plane measuring 9 meters long and 24.8 meters wide. The wings covered with solar panels, the machine flew over the Valais Alps for exactly 5 hours and 9 minutes.
One of the objectives before the stratosphere is to cross the 10,000 meter altitude mark. Raphaël Domjan has not yet reached it, but he was almost there. He actually stole at 9,521 meters above sea level and even met an airliner, whose cruising altitude is 9,000 to 12,000 meters. It was a level that a solar plane had never reached before.
Solarstratos thus claims a new record, surpassing that of Solar Impulse, which in 2010 reached 9,235 meters. However, the record remains to be validated by the International Aeronautical Federation (ISP) before being formalized. Be that as it may, the 53 -year -old pilot is proud of this feat fruit of long years of work and dozens of development flights.
What future for the solar plane?
« My goal is to show the young generation of today and tomorrow that tomorrow it will still be possible to fly without burning any fossil energy“Said Raphaël Domjan to CBS. But is solar really the solution capable of leading to this future aviation decarbon? Difficult to believe it for the moment.
A solar plane requires a perfect balance between electricity production and energy needs. However, the space available to install solar panels remains limited. This forces to adjust energy consumption, which forces certain parameters such as weight and speed. The HB-SXA, for example, reaches a maximum speed of only 140 km/h, against around 800 km/h for conventional planes.
When we talk about solar planes, Solar Impulse 2 often returns as an example, especially for its world tour in 2015-2016. But remember that this trip was not made in one go, and also lasted several months. In addition, the two Swiss pilots initiative of the project (Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg) had to take turns, because only one person could be on board both. This experience, although generally, shows how far a solar planes are far from being able to replace traditional systems.
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