OnInnovation: Visionaries thinking out loud. A video oral history project advancing a culture of innovation powered by The Henry Ford.

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The first ever night flight by a solar powered plane was successfully completed a couple nights ago in Switzerland. The 12,000 solar panels on the plane’s massive wingspan (wider than the wingspan of a Boeing 777) absorbed enough energy during the day to power the plane at night. The pilot of the plane, Andre Borschberg kept the plane at 28,000 feet, a particularly high altitude, to maximize exposure of the solar panels.

As a result, the polymer lithium batteries were fully charged by nightfall. Borschberg was able to comfortably cruise all night with plenty of power still remaining when the sun victoriously re-emerged the following morning. Could the key to increased adoption of solar-powered planes be a greater supply of polymer lithium batteries?

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