Damaged By Overheating During Pacific Ocean Crossing

Following the record breaking oceanic flight of 5 days and 5 nights (117 hours and 52 minutes) in a solar powered airplane, Solar Impulse will undergo maintenance repairs on the batteries due to damages brought about by overheating.

Despite having completed the longest and most difficult leg of the Round the World Solar Flight, the solar powered airplane of Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg has suffered battery damages due to overheating. During the first ascend on day one of the flight from Nagoya to Hawaii, the battery temperature increased too much due to over-insulation. And while the Mission Team was monitoring this very closely during the mission leg, there was no way to decrease the temperature for the remaining duration of the flight as each daily cycle requires an ascend to 28,000 feet and descend for energy management issues.

The Solar Impulse team said in a news release that the damage to certain parts of the batteries is irreversible and will require repairs and replacements that will take several weeks to work through. In parallel, the Solar Impulse engineering team is looking at various options for better management of the cooling and heating process for very long flights.

Solar Impulse says it does not see the possibility for any flights for the next two to three weeks at the earliest.

After starting in Abu Dhabi in early March, SI has already completed 8 legs covering nearly 18,000 kms (approx. 11,200 miles) thus far in its around the world journey.

(Image provided by Solar Impulse)

FMI: www.solarimpulse.com