Chemistry is ... Solar Power

Solar Impulse, the first airplane designed to fly day and night without requiring fuel and without producing carbon emissions, again demonstrated the potential held by new technologies in terms of energy savings and renewable energy production. On June 22, Solar Impulse completed its flight from Rabat to Morocco’s Southern region of Ouarzazate, where the solar aircraft safely landed after a 683 km flight lasting a total of 17 h 20 min.

The 12,000 solar cells integrated into the wing of the airplane supply four electric motors with renewable energy and charge lithium polymer batteries, enabling the aircraft to fly at night. The Solar Impulse project is supported, among others, by Solvay and Bayer Material Science.