Page 65 - Impiantistica Industriale - Novembre-Dicembre 2016

o fly a plane around the world on solar tage of being quick to build and can operate either
energy alone was considered almost as stand-alone grids or be connected to the main
impossible until Solar Impulse took to power grid. In sunny or windy places, microgrids
the skies last year, setting a new re- can be powered by renewable energy, such as a
cord for the longest non-stop flight. small-scale solar farm or local wind turbines.
TThe technologies that enable the plane
to keep flying day and night have important appli-
cations on the ground, especially in places without What powers the plane is an on-board
grid connections or reliable electricity supplies.
Solar Impulse, which has completed its round-the- grid, which converts solar energy from
world flight end of July 2016, is famous for having more than 17,000 solar photovoltaic cells
flown more than halfway round the world without that cover the plane’s wings and fuselage
consuming a drop of fossil fuel. What powers the
plane is an on-board grid, which converts solar
energy from the more than 17,000 solar photovol-
taic cells that cover the plane’s wings and fuselage Such microgrids lend themselves perfectly to island
to power the plane. As long as the sun is shining communities and remote villages and towns, which
brightly, the cells produce more than enough power would otherwise have to wait years or even de-
to keep the aircraft flying, thanks to the plane’s ex- cades for a main-grid power connection. A notable
ceptionally efficient electric motors. Excess power example is the Azores island of Faial in the Atlan-
is routed to the plane’s batteries where it is stored tic, population 15,000, which has a self-contained
for night flights. In this way, Solar Impulse can re- microgrid powered by five wind turbines and six
main aloft 24 hours a day on solar power alone. oil-fired generators. Others include the solar- and
diesel-powered microgrids in the remote towns
The advantages of microgrids of Marble Bar and Nullagine in Western Australia.
Thanks to grid stabilizing technology, which ena-
on the ground bles high solar-energy penetration, the towns now
obtain close to 60% of their power from solar gene-
On the ground, self-contained power grids like ration, saving approximately 400,000 liters of die-
Solar Impulse’s are known as microgrids, energy sel and 1,100 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions
resources that are typically located at or near the each year.
place where energy is used and that operate in a Microgrids have enormous potential in India and
controlled, coordinated way. They have the advan- Africa, where more than 900 million people lack

Solar Impulse in flight

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