Solar Impulse highlights

July 08 – This morning at 9 am and after a non-stop 26 hour flight, the unique solar plane Solar Impulse HB-SIA landed safely in Payerne, Switzerland. André Borschberg was obviously emotional when he got out of the cockpit. He could not describe his feelings yet. "I've been a pilot for 40 years now, but this flight has been the most incredible one of my flying career,” he exclaimed.

July 07 – This morning, at 6:51 am (Swiss local time), the solar powered “Solar Impulse HB-SIA” airplane, backed by Deutsche Bank as a main partner, took off from the Swiss town Payerne to the first day and night-flight solely with the power of the sun. The plane, which is flown by André Borschberg, is expected to stay non-stop 25 hours in the air.

July 06 – Solar Impulse is on the fast track again! The telemetry transmitter, a little box as small as a mobile phone which stopped Solar Impulse HB-SIA from its first night flight attempt last Thursday shortly before take-off, has now been replaced. In full steam the team has worked on solving this technical challenge and finally Solar Impulse HB-SIA is ready to face the day and night flight.

July 01 – Everything was on track until this morning, until the first night flight of the Solar Impulse HB-SIA had to be postponed due to technical reasons. The problem came from the telemetry transmitter that broke down. This system enables the ground team to follow in real time the flight mission and to monitor thousands of crucial parameters.

June 29 – The countdown has started. Finally, after technical challenges and unfavourable weather conditions during the last few days, the first night flight attempt is official! The unique solar plane HB-SIA seems to be well prepared for this important milestone and, moreover, the weather forecasters have announced an ideal window

June 28 – Last week, HB-SIA carried out the longest and highest flight ever in solar aviation history. Test pilot Markus Scherdel flew the prototype HB-SIA for 14 hours and reached an altitude above Mount Everest: 9000 meters. However, this premiere did not go completely through without technical challenges.

June 21 – In the Swiss town Payerne preparations are getting into top gear. The air is fraught with tension. The team around Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are in gleeful anticipation for the first night flight with the prototype “HB-SIA”. In the upcoming days the prototype is supposed to stay as the first manned solar plane for 25 hours in the air – without interruption and solely powered by the sun.

May 19 – If there is a windless, rain-free day over Payerne between the bad weather fronts, then the chances are good that there will be another Solar Impulse test flight. The Solar Impulse Prototype HB-SIA has completed a total of four successful flights since April: Each time even longer and higher than the last.

April 07 – This morning, the Solar Impulse HB-SIA airplane, backed by Deutsche Bank, as a main partner, took off on its first flight. From Payerne airfield (Switzerland), Solar Impulse test pilot Markus Scherdel took the prototype airplane up to 1200 meters. He spent an hour and twenty-seven minutes ...

February 19 – Following the successful completion of the vibration tests in Dübendorf in January, the last few weeks have been busy with moving Solar Impulse to the new 2,000 m² hangar in Payerne. The Swiss Air Force base near Lake Neuenburg will be the starting point for the first longer test flights ...

December 15 – What do Albert II of Monaco, Al Gore and Paolo Coelho have in common? They are all supporters of the ground-breaking Solar Impulse project. Each of them is sponsoring a solar cell on the wing of the aircraft. And just like them, every passionate Solar Impulse fan can now become a part of this unique adventure!

December 04 – Yesterday, powered by its own battery, the Solar Impulse prototype took off from the runway for the first time. It “flew” a metre above the ground for a distance of about 350 metres. A great moment for the two pioneers Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg and the Solar Impulse team ...

November 06 – Weather conditions were ideal today, so the Solar Impulse prototype could leave the hangar for the first time and pass ground testing outside – under the supervision of Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier who is head of the test team. The Solar Impulse team towed the aircraft outside ...

October 19 – 100 years after the early pioneers of flying Wilbur and Orville Wright ushered in the era of aviation Solar Impulse is set to turn the page in a totally new stage of aeronautical history. In just a few days the Solar Impulse prototype “HB-SIA” will be taking off for the first time...

June 26 – The big day arrived, and Bertrand Piccard was visibly moved when he, together with André Borschberg and their team, raised the curtain for the first time on the prototype “Solar Impulse HB-SIA”. More than 800 invited guests – including CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann, along with Prince Albert II of Monaco and the CEOs of Solvay and Omega – and thousands of ...

May 15 – After several years in the making and many endurance, vibration, and wind tunnel tests, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg and the Solar Impulse team will be presenting the "Solar Impulse HB-SIA" prototype to the public for the first time on June 26, 2009. With a wingspan of 61 meters, yet weighing only 1,500 kg, the prototype will be as large as an Airbus A340, as heavy as ...

February 16 – The future is being created in the middle of the desert of Abu Dhabi. Here, in the territory of one of the world's largest oil-producing nations, the first-ever CO²-neutral eco-city has been slowly rising out of the desert sand since February 2008. The two Solar Impulse initiators, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, returned "full of enthusiasm" from their visit to the MASDAR building site.

February 02 – Submitted to extreme differences in temperature and heavy gales of up to 250km/h, the solar cells which are to be used on the first test flights of the Solar Impulse prototype in late summer 2009 have passed a challenging test in the high alpine research station “Mont-Soleil” on the Jungfraujoch at 3580 metres above sea level.

December 05 – After 2 years of intense “construction works”, the most significant part of the Solar Impulse’s prototype has been delivered to the hangar last week: the main spar for the first airplane’s 61meter-wing. After a long journey of 200km departing from the Décision naval dockyards situated close to the Lake of Geneva the spars have safely arrived to Dübendorf in three huge 20m “box” beams. 

October 15 – A lot has been happening over the summer months in the Solar Impulse hangar in Dübendorf near Zurich. The fuselage of the prototype has passed its first static load tests and has been certified airworthy, confirming the choice of technologies and construction design for the solar airplane which have until now never been used in the aviation industry.

August 18 – It was a great moment for the two initiators of Solar Impulse, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, “landing” their project in China for the first time. “A country that cannot be ignored when one talks of technology and energy” Bertrand Piccard underlined on the occasion of the opening of an exhibition dedicated to Solar Impulse at the heart of the Olympic village in Beijing.

June 26 – Welcome aboard - Bertrand Piccard, president and initiator of the groundbreaking Solar Impulse project, introduces readers to a new Solar Impulse newsletter, aimed at providing up-to-date information about construction of the pioneering solar aircraft.

May 17 – Solar Impulse hangar, Dübendorf, Switzerland: This is the location where work is normally carried out on the construction of the solar airplane, prototype. However this week, practice flights of a special kind have been taking place from this site. As part of the Solar Impulse Virtual Flight 2008, an original replica of the prototype cockpit has been used for the very first time.

April 09 – The goal of the Solar Impulse project is to reconcile mobility with environmental considerations. The venture was declared today at the European Parliament in Brussels as a symbol for its ambitious ecological achievements in the transportation sector.

March 07 – “It’s not just about having great ideas – it’s far more important to implement them” – Bertrand Piccard’s vision which he is putting into action with Solar Impulse is at the cutting edge of technology: the first manned round-the-world flight in an airplane powered solely by solar energy.

February 14 – “There is a common misconception that a trade-off exists between environmentally responsible investing and strong investment performance.” As Global Head of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management Division, Kevin Parker is clear about the potential returns for alternative investments.

January 25 – Bertrand Piccard is clear about the facts: considering the existing data on climate change it is high time for a radical rethink.

January 09 – Bertrand Piccard, initiator and future pilot of Solar Impulse, spoke at the Climate Change Conference of the Deutsche Bank affiliate DWS in Zurich about “Climate change as a challenge and chance”. Piccard is developing –with the support of Deutsche Bank as one out of three Main Partners – an aircraft that is to fly around the world without spewing out pollutants.

November 21 – The importance of opening up new horizons and questioning existing standards through innovation – this was the topic of Bertrand Piccard`s speech at the 6th Entrepreneur's Convention in Berlin. The courage to leave beaten tracks and to break new ground connects entrepreneurial spirit to the Solar Impulse project.

November 05 – A big step forward. Solar Impulse is no longer just a vision, but is taking on concrete shape. The first components for the prototype are ready: the cockpit, solar cells and the aircraft engine.