This week on Watt It Takes: Why one man spent 15 years of his life obsessed with flying a solar airplane around the world.
We'll hear from Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss-balloonist-turned-futurist who co-piloted Solar Impulse, the first solar-electric airplane to navigate the globe.
Piccard's mission was to do the impossible so that he could prove what is possible with renewable energy.
“We gave a new understanding of the level of complexity that renewable energies can solve. If you can fly around the world in a solar airplane, you can do everything,” says Piccard.
Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch sat down with Piccard to hear more about the work that went into his historic flight – and about the deep family history that influenced him.
Watt It Takes is a collaboration between Powerhouse and Greentech Media. The series is recorded in front of a live audience at Powerhouse headquarters in Oakland, California. Buy tickets for upcoming events.
The Energy Gang is brought to you by Mission Solar Energy, a solar module manufacturer based in San Antonio, Texas. Mission Solar's high-performance solar panels have the highest testing ratings among any North American manufacturer in the market. Learn more about Mission's high-efficiency modules.
Listen to our other episodes of Watt It Takes:
- Nancy Pfund’s Pro Tips for Getting Started in Cleantech
- SunPower Founder Dick Swanson’s Guide to Launching a Cleantech Startup
- Lessons From the Fall of Sungevity
- Dan Shugar, the King Midas of Solar
- A History of Greentech Media With Scott Clavenna
- Sungage's Sara Ross on Starting a Solar Loan Company
- Jigar Shah on the Origin Story of SunEdison
- The Origin Story of Mosaic With Billy Parish
- How Roboticist Leila Madrone Built the Air-Based Solar Tracker Firm Sunfolding
- The Death-Defying Reinvention of Advanced Microgrid Solutions
- Assessing the Promise of Electric Buses With Proterra CEO Ryan Popple
- How Sunnova’s John Berger Convinced Oil & Gas Investors to Believe in Solar
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