Apr 9 2014
Curtain up for a visionary project: The decisive second SolarImpulse aircraft has now been completed. The plane, which is to be thefirst to travel around the world entirely without fuel in 2015, wasunveiled on Wednesday in Payerne, Switzerland.
On board are numerous innovative products and solutions from BayerMaterialScience that make the plane especially lightweightand energy efficient, including a novel and extremely efficientinsulating material for the cockpit.
On its historic journey around the world, the plane is to bepowered solely by the sun. The energy will be generated by roughly17,200 solar cells on the wings, which at 72 meters have a span equalto that of the largest passenger airliners. The entire aircraft howeverweighs only 2.3 tons.
Day and nightwithout fuel
The new plane is the advancement of a first prototype, whichdemonstrated in 2010 the feasibility to fly day and night only on solarenergy and since then successfully completed numerous flights, mostrecently a coast-to-coast journey across the United States. The secondmodel will undertake a number of test flights this year as well, priorto setting off on its big mission in March 2015.
The aircraft was unveiled to a large audience invited byBertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, who founded the Solar Impulseproject over ten years ago. The two Swiss pioneers want their projectto demonstrate the tremendous potential of existing technologies forcontributing to energy efficiency, renewable energies and newtransportation solutions.
"The Solar Impulse initiative is both scientific andinnovative. It is also philosophical, by its goal of raising awarenessin society about the need to save our planet’s energy resources.Without Bayer and its mission of conducting ‘Science For A Better Life’this solar airplane would never have been light and efficient enough tobe able to fly night and day without fuel," Piccard said.
Bayer MaterialScience, which has been an official partner tothe project since 2010, is similarly committed to deliveringsustainable products and solutions. "The Solar Impulse projectimpressively demonstrates how our innovations can help preserve theplanet and its natural resources, improve people's lives and createvalue," said Richard Northcote, Bayer MaterialScience ExecutiveCommittee member responsible for sustainability.
Highly efficientinsulation
The company contributed a lot of technical expertise to theproject. Among other things it was responsible for the complete designof the cockpit shell. It is a key component of Bayer MaterialScience’sinvolvement how it has been able to take this project from designconcept through to manufacturing, said Borschberg.
One material the company is providing for this purpose is theextremely high-performance insulating material Baytherm® Microcell. Itsinsulating performance is as much as 10 percent greater than thecurrent standard. Highly efficient insulation is particularly importantfor the aircraft because it must withstand temperature fluctuationsbetween minus 40 degrees Celsius at night and plus 40 degrees duringthe day.
Baytherm® Microcell is used for the aircraft door, while therest of the cockpit shell is made of a different type of rigidpolyurethane foam from Bayer MaterialScience. The company also suppliesa polyurethane/carbon fiber composite material for the door locks, andthin sheets of transparent, high-performance polycarbonate for thewindow. Although the cockpit is larger overall than in the firstprototype, it is only minimally heavier.
Silvery coating
Outside the cockpit, rigid polyurethane foam from BayerMaterialScience is used to insulate the batteries. The company alsoprovides the raw materials for the silvery coating covering largeportions of the aircraft and the adhesives that hold the textile fabricin place underneath the wings.
Bayer MaterialScience supplies polycarbonates and polyurethaneraw materials to other markets and industries as well, for example forlightweight construction in the automotive industry, for buildinginsulation and for thermal management in consumer electronics.
Its involvement in the Solar Impulse project ultimatelybenefits the further development of key sectors like these. BayerMaterialScience can use the "flying laboratory" to further improve itsexisting products and solutions, test new things and thus come up withnew potential applications.
About BayerMaterialScience:
With2013 sales of EUR 11.2 billion, Bayer MaterialScience is among theworld’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused onthe manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development ofinnovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. Themain segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics,construction and the sports and leisure industries. At the end of 2013,Bayer MaterialScience had 30 production sites and employedapproximately 14,300 people around the globe. Bayer MaterialScience isa Bayer Group company.