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A partnership marking Solvay's commitment to Innovation and to Sustainable Development.
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Solvay partners the Solar Impulse project
Solvay is the first main partner of Solar Impulse since the start of the project. The partnership contract was signed on 28 October 2004.
Since then, Solvay has been involved in financing the project and, on a voluntary basis, providing Solar Impulse with technological support in the fields of the development of advanced materials (polymers and fluoride materials), their characterisation, their implementation and the simulation of their behaviour in very harsh conditions.
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The Solar Impulse project will enable the Solvay group to:
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promote and develop its products in demanding new applications, confort R&D challenges on the boundaries of technology,
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increase motivation and innovative capacity within the company, and finally
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evolve the Group’s culture and image through interaction with the outside world.
Mission
The first round-the-world solar airplane flight aims at promoting a positive image of sustainable development and renewable energies through an exciting adventure, technological innovation and entrepreneurial excellence.
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The prototype
After four years of research, studies, calculations and simulations, the Solar Impulse project has entered a concrete phase with the construction of an initial prototype with a 61-metre wingspan, the “HB-SIA”.
Its mission is to verify the working hypotheses in practice and to validate the selected construction technologies and procedures.
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A second aircraft will then be developed to attempt to fly several 24-hour cycles consecutively, leading to the first trans-Atlantic flight in 2011, and then the first round-the-world flight.
Milestones
- 2006-2007 : Design and manufacturing of a prototype
- 2008-2009 : Test flights and first night flight with the prototype
- 2009-2010 : Construction of the final aeroplane
- 2010-2011 : Missions of several days, crossing of the Atlantic and tentative tour of the world completing one stage for each continent
Solvay's technological support to the project
Since 2004, Solvay has been working, with the other technical teams, to solve the technological challenges in four key areas:
Visit SOLAR-IMPULSE.COM
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