Abu Dhabi: The first solar plane circumnavigating the globe has brought cheer to the villagers in Myanmar during its week-long halt before departing for China.
The Swiss pilots and co-founders of Solar Impulse, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, launched on Friday an ambitious project to provide solar power to thousands of villages in Myanmar, a country where 70 per cent of the population has no access to electricity.
They presented solar home systems to two women as part of the launch.
The joint partnership project was announced by Solar Impulse’s partner, Swiss Corporation ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, and PACT, an NGO. This is part of PACT’s plan to develop local solar power production for one million people in Myanmar in the next five years to improve quality of life, create economic opportunities and boost education in remote areas of the country. The project will establish solar power-charging stations that will help rural businesses.
Piccard and Borschberg said it is a practical demonstration that what they say with Solar Impulse is possible. “Renewable energies can improve quality of life. Whether it’s the power for a record-breaking solar airplane or simple light bulbs for basic needs, clean energies can impact lives forever. We need such actions everywhere,” they said.
Chaiyot Piyawannarat, Country Managing Director for ABB in Myanmar, said “By bringing solar-powered electricity to these communities, we will make a lasting difference long after the Solar Impulse plane has departed.”
Richard Harrison, Country Director, Pact Myanmar, said by starting with 700 charging stations that will help empower women’s businesses in rural communities, that vision is one step closer to reality.
Meanwhile, the halt of Solar Impulse-2 in Mandalay in Myanmar has been delayed due to weather conditions, a spokesperson told Gulf News on phone from Mandalay on Saturday.
The flight that landed in Mandalay on Thursday was scheduled to leave for Chongqing in China on its fifth leg. “But now the next possible departure is on Thursday, March 26,” she said.
After reaching China next week, Solar Impulse-2 has to wait for favourable weather for at least two weeks there to cross the Pacific towards the United States. The first possible time to cross the Pacific from China may be mid-April.
In its sixth leg the flight will land at Nanjing on the east coast of China near Shanghai. There it will have the longest halt in its initial runs, while waiting for favourable weather.
The time will be used for many awareness activities on clean energy, as was done in Abu Dhabi.
Piccard and Borschberg take turns to pilot the 35,000km flight around the globe, accumulating 500 flight hours over five months to spread the message that clean technologies can be achieved through a pioneering spirit.
The zero-fuel aeroplane will stop in China, USA, northern Africa or southern Europe before returning to Abu Dhabi to complete its circumnavigation of the world.