In July 2008, Trina Solar Ltd. announced a cooperative agreement with LISA Airplanes to build the Hy-Bird, Under this agreement, Trina Solar will supply LISA Airplanes with almost 300 photovoltaic cells for the wings and horizontal tail of the plane. That’s enough to supply sufficient energy to complete the fuel cell power for takeoff and for on-board power supply. In addition, a fuel cell will fuel the aircraft for cruise flight, while an electric engine will propel it.

Arturo Herrero, Trina Solar’s vice president of sales and marketing, said the Hy-Bird represents a unique and innovative photovoltaic application that underscores the reliability of Trina Solar products. “We are very proud to be part of this sustainable energy airplane project as we continue to promote the benefits and use of solar energy worldwide,” he said.

The Hy-Bird was developed because of an increasing concern for the environment and an urgency to develop an environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum to fuel the different means of transportation, its website stated.


LISA Airplanes has already produced a scale model and expects to complete assembly of the real plane by the end of 2009. LISA Airplanes expects to make a series of full-scale test runs and introduce the Hy-Bird project, its technologies, its values and its partners in several countries where interest in renewable energies is growing.

The Hy-Bird is expected to take off for its around-the-world flight, from West to East, through various stages, and unite as many people and cultures as possible. For each stage of 3,000 km or about 1,900 miles, Hy-Bird will be piloted by an inhabitant of the landing country.

Take a look at the Hy-Bird, a hydrogen-powered electric airplane that gets 10% of its power from the sun. Made of super-lightweight (and expensive) carbon fiber, there’s talk of this fuel-cell aircraft flying around the world this summer, and shipping to paying customers starting by the end of 2009. Could happen, because this is not the first electric airplane we’ve heard of, and certainly won’t be the last.

Created by French company Lisa Airplanes, the idea is “to fly around the world with a 100% clean electric airplane powered only by renewable energies: solar energy and hydrogen.” The company says that power system will allow the plane to circumnavigate the globe in 3000-km stages. The electro-aviators aren’t saying how much the shipping product will cost, though.