Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by TheLoneAdmin 2609 days ago
Apparently the craft is powered entirely by solar power, plus batteries, to work at night. A solar powered craft cannot maintain 130 knots.
2 comments

Solar impulse 2 used 269.5 m2 of solar panels to produce 66 kW peak and do 75 knots.

That’s only ~1/2 the current max efficiency of solar panels. Suggesting many other improvements are at least possible and 130 knots are within reach if that’s what was being optimized for vs say cost.

The cool thing about this craft is that it’s a glider and doesn’t use solar power for direct propulsion. Instead it uses the solar power to make the ballon lighter than air. Once it reaches altitude it will start gliding by making the ballon heavier than air. While gliding it can reach very fast speeds. The question is though how many times it needs to refill the ballon during the night and if the stored power is enough.