EUROPE'S SOLAR IMPULSE KEEN ON HAVING PARTNERS FROM OTHER REGIONS

Special Report by M. Saraswathi

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 (Bernama) -– Solar Impulse, Europe's long-range
solar-powered plane project which could one day change the landscape of aviation
industry, needs another 25 million euro.

It is not seeking any government funding but corporate and individual
contributions to raise the 70 million euro it needs for the whole project.

"We've raised 45 million euro with just a power point presentation. Now that
we have an airplane, it should be much easier," said project initiator and
president Bertrand Piccard.

The single-seater Solar Impulse HB-SIA, the first airplane designed to fly
day and night without fuel, left the ground for the first time on Dec 3, 2009.

Piccard said Solar Impulse would want to have partners from other regions
because its current partners were mainly from Europe.

"We would love to have partners from other parts of the world, such as Sony
and Panasonic from Japan and companies like China's Suntech Holdings,” he said
during a recent media visit to the project in Dubendorf Airfield, Switzerland.

Suntech produces solar products like photovoltaic modules.

Piccard said the project was being managed very stringently and from day
one, they knew that it needed just 70 million euro.

Having raised 45 million euro from its present supporters such as
Geneva-based private asset management company Semper, Belgian industrial group
Solvay, Altran, Omega, Deutsche Bank, SolarMax, Victorinox and Toyota
Switzerland, another 25 million euro would be enough to produce a second plane
codenamed HB-SIB, he said.

The Solar Impulse project was launched in 2003, five years after the idea
was first conceived.

In November 2007 -- after four years of research, calculation and
simulations -- Piccard, together with engineer and fighter pilot Andre
Borschberg, presented the final design of the first prototype with a wingspan of
63 metres and a weight of 1,600 kilogramme -- the HB-SIA.

In April 2008, the European Commission assured Piccard and Borschberg of its
endorsement, thereby recognising the impact and action of Solar Impulse in
support of renewable energy.

Thereafter, there was no turning back with other organisations and companies
joining the project, providing concrete collaboration or wishing to demonstrate
their values and actions in favour of the environment.

The International Air Transport Association has become an institutional
partner of Solar Impulse, providing logistics support -– a critical component of
round-the-world flights.

Piccard said there was a lot of interest from individuals from day one, and
therefore Solar Impulse launched the "Supporters Programme" simultaneously with
the presentation of HB-SIA prototype.

The programme offers supporters an opportunity to acquire one of the 10,748
solar cells on the wings, visit the solar airplane base or even place their
names on the fuselage.

"Famous writer Paulo Coelho is among those who have purchased the solar
cells," he said.

After six years of design, calculation, simulations and construction, the
solar airplane HB-SIA would have to prove itself before embarking on its 36-hour
flight -- the project's major objective.

Using lessons learned from the first prototype, the HB-SIB will be built in
order to re-write, using solar energy, some of the great firsts of early
aviation history, such as crossing the United States and the Atlantic.

"My dream for next year is the first night flight," Piccard said.

From early 2010 onwards, the aircraft will be making its first solar test
flights, gradually increasing flight duration until it makes its first night
flight using solar energy.

Piccard hopes to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 2012 and subsequently around
the world.

"The flight around the world could take about 20 days and it will be done
in five legs, about five days each. And at every stop, the pilot will be
changed," he said.

He said Solar Impulse planned to have one stop each in Europe, Middle East,
Middle of Pacific, China and the United States.

Where exactly the stop will be made has not been decided, but he said
countries that wanted to spread the idea could request for it.

Asked if his idea can be commercialised given that even a one-seater
airplane needs a huge wingspan to fly with solar energy, Piccard said:

"When Charles Augustus Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic in 1927, he was alone
on board. And the entire plane was full of gasoline. It took him 33 hours to
cross the Atlantic.

"As he landed, everyone said that it was beautiful but one needed to be a
pilot to be able to fly across the Atlantic. Twenty-five years later, there were
200 passengers on every plane that crossed the Atlantic.

"Similarly, as technology evolves and grows, the idea of flying commercially
without using fuel or zero emission could also become a reality."

-- BERNAMA