Tag: solar

TU Delft’s Solar Boat Team
Specials, Student projects

TU Delft’s Solar Boat Team

Amongst the facilities that the TU Delft offers to its students is the D:DREAM Hall. D:DREAM stands for “Dream Realization of Extremely Advanced Machines”. The D:DREAM Hall is home to a variety of engineering teams, the so-called DREAM Teams. A DREAM Team is a great way for a student to learn many essential engineering skills in a relatively short time. The teams typically start in September; working towards competitions taking place in summer. This leaves the teams with eight to ten months until they need to deliver their product. This means that there is little room for errors, too many design iterations and other delays. To work well as a team is of paramount importance. The teams function as full-fledged companies, in order to give a more realistic engineering experience. The chall...
The Current State of Electric Aircraft
Aviation, Propulsion

The Current State of Electric Aircraft

As the Solar Impulse arrives in Abu Dhabi, it is interesting to examine the electric aircraft on a conceptual level, as well as its current progress. Without judging the Solar Impulse team’s achievements, it is fair to say their main drivers were most certainly adventure and innovation. The latter being a pillar of aerospace engineering. It is the reason why aircraft continue to become more efficient year after year, and allow more and more people to reach distant places throughout the world. Electric aircraft are one of the newest domains upon which innovation is focused. Few can predict how far they will go. This article presents the Solar Impulse along with a history of electric aircraft, their uses and the challenges to come.   Solar Impulse The Solar Impulse adventure wa...