By air and water: a solar race around the world

source: Business Week | May 15, 06 | submitted by indymb

Switzerland - In the western corner of Switzerland, two teams are vying to be the first to circle the Earth using solar-powered craft. It's not officially a competition, but the similarity of the projects, the geographic proximity, and the chance to lead in a field with huge potential make it one.

PlanetSolar (http://www.planetsolar.org/) was announced in March in Yverdon, a city one hour from Geneva. There, a group organized around the local engineering school unveiled a strange, swan-like object with a long white beak (a "wavepiercer") protruding from a three-hulled body covered with 1,930 square feet of solar panels. It's a scaled-down model of a solar trimaran

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"Solar is right now a relatively poor proposition for cars...but it's perfectly attuned to maritime traffic. With 6 kW you can transport two people in a car, or 20 on a boat, because boats don't have to accelerate and decelerate and stop and start as often."- Mark Wst, PlanetSolar Team member
"We need to show people that renewable energy is not a step backwards but a jump into the future: if we can go around the world in a solar aircraft, that means that we can do incredible things with renewables."- Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse scientist

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Message: By air and water: a solar race around the world In the western corner of Switzerland, two teams are vying to be the first to circle the Earth using solar-powered craft. It's not officially a competition, but the similarity of the projects, the geographic proximity, and the chance to lead in a field with huge potential make it one. PlanetSolar (http://www.planetsolar.org/) was announced in March in Yverdon, a city one hour from Geneva. There, a group organized around the local engineering school unveiled a strange, swan-like object with a long white beak (a "wavepiercer") protruding from a three-hulled body covered with 1,930 square feet of solar panels. It's a scaled-down model of a solar trimaran "Solar is right now a relatively poor proposition for cars...but it's perfectly attuned to maritime traffic. With 6 kW you can transport two people in a car, or 20 on a boat, because boats don't have to accelerate and decelerate and stop and start as often." - Mark Wst, PlanetSolar Team member "We need to show people that renewable energy is not a step backwards but a jump into the future: if we can go around the world in a solar aircraft, that means that we can do incredible things with renewables." - Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse scientist Link to Article: http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/by_air_and_water_a_solar_race_around_the_world/ -------------------- The Great News Network is a daily news center that features only positive and inspirational news stories on world events, the environment, science, health, and business. http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org "An Oasis for Optimists" submit the word you see below:

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