Solar Impulse and Deutsche Bank – Inventing the Future

With the Solar Impulse project, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, both natives of Switzerland, plan to achieve one of the great pioneering feats of the 21st century with the support of Deutsche Bank: the first flight around the world in a manned solar airplane. Their aim is to demonstrate the potential of regenerative energies – and revolutionize how they are used.

As of 2013, Piccard and Borschberg want to be able to circumnavigate the globe in five stages in an airplane that neither consumes fossil fuels nor produces CO2 emissions. Solar Impulse will establish new standards for clean mobility and energy efficiency, thus promoting the development of sustainable future-proof technologies that will help us become independent of fossil fuels some day. At the same time, the project aims to inspire as many people as possible to use energy more intelligently and efficiently.

Together with an international team of scientists, technicians, and engineers, the two pilots have developed a unique aircraft: the “Solar Impulse HB-SIA” prototype. At just under 1,600 kg, it weighs as much as a medium-sized car, but it has the wingspan of an Airbus A340 – 63.4 meters.

The core of the airplane consists of an extremely lightweight carbon-fiber skeleton. That makes the airplane light, but also ensures stability and durability. With 1.3 cubic meters of space, the cockpit can only accommodate one pilot.

Bertrand Piccard, who has a PhD in psychiatry, comes from a dynasty of researchers and adventurers. He became famous in 1999 when – together with Brian Jones – he succeeded in completing the first circumnavigation of the globe in a hot-air balloon.

André Borschberg is a former Swiss Air Force pilot and, in addition, a successful business consultant and company founder. The two men share a pioneering spirit and a belief in the power of change of technological innovation. In July 2010, the Solar Impulse team was able to complete the most important phase since the project was founded in 2003: For the first time in the history of aviation, a manned solar aircraft stayed in the air day and night without interruption – powered solely by the sun. For this purpose, roughly 12,000 photovoltaic cells on the wings had to generate enough energy to keep the solar airplane going all night. The batteries that were charged with solar energy during the daytime flight had to propel the aircraft throughout the entire night and the following morning until two hours after sunrise.

The mission was a success: The airplane stayed aloft for over 26 hours. Pilot André Borschberg’s enthusiastic comment was: “I have been a pilot for over 40 years, but that was the most incredible flight of my entire career! What a joyous feeling it was when the sun rose and I pictured how energy started circulating in the solar panels again! I was flying for over 26 hours, but I did not use up one single drop of kerosene and I did not pollute the environment.” That proves that solar flight lasting several days is possible – independently of fossil fuels. The next milestones of the Solar Impulse team will be additional test flights within Switzerland and Europe. Later on, the plan is to cross the Atlantic and the United States in a new, improved aircraft. The final goal is to fly around the world in 2013.

“Treating our resources with a view to sustainability is the greatest adventure of our time. Our goal is not just to fly around the world without conventional fuel. We have to ask ourselves what really sustainable development is for us. Making environmental protection profitable is not so much a moral challenge, but rather an economic one,” says Bertrand Piccard. Solar Impulse aims to show that sustainability can and must be worth it. As a main partner of the project, Deutsche Bank also shares that conviction. Economic success, social responsibility, and future viability are inextricably linked. “Solar Impulse breaks with habitual patterns of thinking and promotes the courage to attempt something new,” says Dr. Josef Ackermann, CEO of Deutsche Bank.

On the basis of shared values – such as performance orientation, innovation, and sustainability – the bank’s commitment to Solar Impulse stands for its avowal to dedicate itself to sustainable activities. In 1999 already, Deutsche Bank became the first major German bank to establish a global sustainability management system that was certified according to the ISO 14001 standard. Its sustainability management is strategically focused and integrated throughout the corporate group in the “Environmental Steering Committee” and the “Group Reputational Risk Committee.”

As of 2013, the global operational activities within the group will be climate neutral. At present 67 percent of the bank’s energy requirements are filled from renewable sources in conjunction with a comprehensive climate strategy. In Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland, the plan is to use 100 percent renewable energy in the future.

Moreover, Deutsche Bank is constantly expanding its range of financial services in response to climate change. Acclaimed sustainability rating agencies have repeatedly confirmed that, within the financial services sector, Deutsche Bank is also one of the best in this area. Thus, it enables its clients to exploit the potential of ecologically and socially sustainable products – and at the same time to invest profitably and responsibly in their own future and that of the globe.