Eco Factor: Concept airship powered by solar energy.
The High Speed Solar Airship is a conceptual airship that has been designed to haul cargo without polluting the atmosphere with toxic emissions. The airship is to be created using off-the-shelf components and will offer high-speed, cost-competitive cargo hauling.
The ship generates up to 67.2KW of solar power from onboard solar panels, which along with Jet Stream boosts speed on the west-to-east transport to up to 182mph. Flying at a height of 30,000 feet, the airship can also fly at night at a speed of 165mph.
Since the airship is designed to fly at an altitude of 30,000ft, it will be way above bad weather which also provides unobstructed environment for the solar panels. Moreover, due to the colder temperatures at high altitude the efficiency of the solar panels will be increased by up to 30 percent.
The inventor has done some limited flight testing with a 1:20 scale model. The proposed airship will be able to carry 120,000 pounds of payload and will be constructed at the cost of $5 million.
Via: Inhabitat