In 2014, around the world with solar energy

Years ago, two big personalities – Bertrand Piccard and Alfred N. Schindler – met and found that they had plenty in common. It began with Piccard taking the Chairman of the Schindler Group for a ride in his hot-air balloon. Today, the Schindler Group, a leading global manufacturer of elevators and escalators, supports Bertrand Piccard’s pioneering Solar Impulse project. Solar Impulse is the first aircraft flying day and night without fossil fuels and using only solar energy that is to circumnavigate the globe in 2014. For Alfred N. Schindler, Solar Impulse is one of the most important and inspiring clean-tech projects, an excellent example of grass-root entrepreneurship, and it embodies ground-breaking technological innovation. For many years, Alfred N. Schindler has been a regular guest and chalet owner in Gstaad. He loves the Saanenland for its discretion and for its fantastic mix of locals and international visitors.

In an interview in Alfred N. Schindler’s chalet in Gstaad, both men explained what Solar Impulse means to them.

“We want to push the limits,” said Alfred N. Schindler. "Solar Impulse is one of the most inspiring clean-tech projects in the world today because it is not only about saving energy but conquers completely new technological ground. It shows that innovation is not something that is achieved in small incremental steps, but is rather a struggle against the limits, a permanent challenge to the status quo. In other words, innovation is primarily a refusal to remain within existing norms. One has to continuously question everything in order to improve, otherwise ground-breaking ideas would never be possible."

About Solar Impulse

Solar Impulse HB-SIA is the first plane that can fly day and night without fuel and without polluting emissions, demonstrating the enormous potential of new technologies in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy. Behind the 70-member team and its 80 partners lie seven years of intense work, calculations, simulations and tests in order to create this revolutionary aircraft made of carbon fiber materials: Never before has such a large and light aircraft been built, with the wingspan of an Airbus A340 (63.4 meters) and the weight of a midsize car (1,600 kg). In the wings are 12,000 integrated solar cells. They supply the four electric motors that have a peak output of 10 horsepower with renewable energy and that charge the lithium-polymer batteries (400 kg) during the day for the night flight. The Solar Impulse project is supported, among others, by four main partners: Solvay, Omega, Deutsche Bank, and Schindler; Bayer Material Science and Altran are official partners; Swisscom, Semper and Clarins are official supporters; EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne) is the official scientific advisor and Dassault Aviation, the consultant on aviation issues.

Alfred N. Schindler sees renewable energy as being perfectly compatible with economic growth. The issue is not about sacrificing life’s comforts.

“We are part of this adventure to prove to mankind that an intelligent use of energy is not primarily about belt tightening. Innovation has less to do with money and more to do with vision and a determination to push the limits.” Solar Impulse convincingly shows us all that virtually inexhaustible reserves of untapped solar energy are available for us to use. “It is not about working harder but smarter!”

For both Bertrand Piccard and Alfred N. Schindler, Solar Impulse is not about transporting people using solar power in the future. “We do not want to carry passengers with Solar Impulse, we are transporting a message,” is the philosophy of the two pioneers. This adventure is a very powerful way to get across that social routines and established behavioral patterns can only be changed by a pioneering spirit. Solar Impulse impressively shows how we can free ourselves from our dependence on fossil fuels by going beyond the limits of what is possible with today's technological solutions. What is needed is the same jump that took us from telex to fax to email. With an aircraft, which can remain in the air day after day without fuel, and that can use stored energy of the day for night flight, we see that a virtually inexhaustible reserve of solar energy is available to us.

“Solar Impulse is an excellent example of grass-root entrepreneurship, which is so important for

Switzerland and Europe in general," added Alfred N. Schindler. "It has all the same characteristics as my own entrepreneurial credo. Solar Impulse is a unique platform where creativity meets audacity, technological expertise meets perseverance, vision meets discipline and where action turns dreams into reality."

2010 was an extremely important year for Solar Impulse. The HB-SIA prototype was the first airplane ever to fly day and night for 26 hours without fuel, a historic achievement. Thanks to the partnership with Schindler at the start of construction of the second HB-SIB prototype, Solar Impulse is now on track to achieve the goal of a round the world flight without fuel in 2014.

Cost of the program up to the start of circumnavigation is CHF 100 million. For the actual flight around the world, an additional CHF 30 million will be sought. It is hoped that this amount will come from donors and philanthropic circles – from so-called “angels” – as Piccard so affectionately calls his supporters. This program offers the possibility

Unique artistic images of mood and emotion. Including scenes of Gstaad, Saanenland & Pays-d‘Enhaut.

For further information and details of exhibitions and limited large commissions visit www.view-finder.ch and contact us via info@view-finder.ch. To see images on display also visit Basta at the Bernerhof Hotel. And images are available for sale at Art Photo, Alte Lauenenstrasse 5, Gstaad Ian Wilson

World record holder, researcher, and father

Bertrand Piccard was born in 1958 in Lausanne. He is a psychiatrist and an explorer. In 1999, he became the first man to circumnavigate the earth non-stop in a hot air balloon: 45,000 km in 19 days and 22 hours. It was the longest flight in aviation history. Piccard comes from a Swiss research clan: his grandfather Auguste was the first man to reach the stratosphere; his father Jacques reached the deepest point in the ocean with a bathyscaphe, or deepsea submersible, reaching 10,916 meters below sea level, thereby setting a world record. Bertrand Piccard is married and father to three daughters. He lives near Lausanne.

About Schindler

Founded in Switzerland in 1874, the Schindler Group is a leading global provider of elevators, escalators, transit management systems including access control and related services. Schindler supports sustainable urban development with safe, reliable, and environmentally sound transportation solutions. Schindler mobility solutions move one billion people every day all over the world. Schindler's destination control system (an elevator system that reduces the number of intermediate stops), machine room-less elevators, and lifts without steel cables are industry benchmarks in innovation. The company's very latest development, an elevator powered exclusively by solar energy, once again highlights Schindler's forward looking spirit. Behind this success are approximately 44,000 employees in more than 100 countries.

to adopt a solar cell, to have their name written on the fuselage or to have unlimited access to the team and the facilities. The aircraft has the wingspan of an Airbus and Alfred N. Schindler is already looking forward to the “deafening silence” on departure. The HB-SIB will start in Payerne and will travel at 70 km per hour. A stopover is planned in the Arabic Emirates, Asia, USA and Europe, where major events and educational programs will communicate the vision of Solar Impulse. Solar Impulse has already been introduced in Japan, India, and China as well as to the EU Commission in Brussels and to the EU Parliament.

Co-founder and CEO of Solar Impulse, André Borschberg, will share with Bertrand Piccard the piloting of the aircraft. In the air, only one pilot will be onboard at a time. The pilots will change every three to five days. Borschberg is confident because, with the success of the first prototype, the team has gained tremendous experience and had its technological decisions confirmed. To fly around the world, they must continue to push technology and reliability and for that they are pleased to be able to draw on the experience of Schindler.

For Bertrand Piccard, initiator and president of Solar Impulse, the involvement of Schindler illustrates in a special way how a visionary company tackles sustainable development: “Even if Solar Impulse only carries one person at a time while Schindler transports one billion people every day, we still share the same objective: to develop new technologies to facilitate clean and sustainable mobility."

Mit Sonnenenergie um die Welt

Mit Bertrand Piccard und Alfred N. Schindler haben sich zwei grosse Persönlichkeiten vor Jahren kennen und schätzen gelernt. Heute unterstützt der Schindler Konzern, ein weltweit führender Anbieter von Aufzügen und Rolltreppen, das zukunftsweisende Projekt Solar Impulse von Bertrand Piccard und André Borschberg. Die Partnerschaft des Unternehmens mit Solar Impulse bestärkt Schindlers langjähriges Bekenntnis, in die Entwicklung neuer Technologien für eine saubere und nachhaltige Mobilität zu investieren. Für Schindler gehört Solar Impulse zu den inspirierendsten Umweltprojekten überhaupt, weil es weltweit ein starkes Signal setzt. Solar Impulse HB-SIA, das erste Flugzeug, das Tag und Nacht ohne Treibstoff und Schadstoffemissionen fliegen kann, beweist das enorme Potenzial der neuen Technologien im Bereich der Energieeffizienz und der Erzeugung erneu - erbarer Energie. Hinter dem 70-köpfigen Team und seinen 80 Partnern liegen sieben Jahre intensivster Arbeit mit unzähligen Berechnungen, Simulationen und Tests, um dieses revolutionäre Flugzeug aus Kohlefaser-Werkstoffen zu vollenden: Nie zuvor wurde ein derart grosses und leichtes Flugzeug gebaut, mit der Spannweite eines Airbus A340 (63,4 m) und dem Gewicht eines Mittelklassewagens (1600 kg). Im Flügel sind rund 12000 Solarzellen integriert. Sie versorgen die vier Elektromotoren, die eine Spitzenleistung von je 10 PS aufweisen, mit erneuerbarer Energie und laden die Lithium-Polymer-Batterien (400 kg) während des Tages für den Nachtflug auf. 100 Mio. Franken wird das Programm Solar Impulse bis zum Start zur Weltumrundung gekostet haben. Für den eigentlichen Flug um die Welt wird nochmals die Summe von 30 Mio. Franken gesucht.

Bertrand Piccard et Alfred N. Schindler

Le tour du monde grâce à l’énergie solaire F

Bertrand Piccard et Alfred N. Schindler sont deux grandes personnalités qui se connaissent et s’apprécient depuis des années. A ce jour, le groupe Schindler, un des principaux fournisseurs mondiaux d’ascenseurs et d’escaliers roulants soutient le projet futuriste Solar Impulse de Bertrand Piccard et André Borschberg. Le partenariat avec Solar Impulse renforce la profession de foi de longue date de Schindler, qui consiste à investir dans le développement de nouvelles technologies pour une mobilité propre et durable. Aux yeux de l’entreprise, Solar Impulse fait partie des projets environnementaux les plus inspirants car il donne un signal très fort au plan mondial. Solar Impulse HB-SIA est le premier avion capable de voler jour et nuit sans carburant et sans produire d’émission nocive. Il est la preuve de l’énorme potentiel des nouvelles technologies dans le domaine de l’efficience énergétique et de la produc- tion d’énergie renouvelable. Une équipe de 70 personnes et ses 80 partenaires ont effectué durant sept ans un travail des plus intenses comportant d’innombrables calculs, simulations et tests pour achever cet avion révolutionnaire constitué de matériaux en fibres de carbone. Jamais auparavant n’avait été construit un avion d’une telle taille et d’une telle légèreté, dont l’envergure est celle d’un Airbus A340 (63,4 m) et le poids celui d’une voiture de classe moyenne (1600 kg). Environ 12000 cellules solaires sont intégrées dans l‘aile. Elles alimentent les quatre moteurs électriques de 10 CV chacun avec de l’énergie renouvelable et chargent les batteries de lithium-polymère (400 kg) durant la journée pour continuer à voler la nuit. Le programme Solar Impulse aura coûté 100 millions de francs jusqu’au départ du tour du monde. Pour le vol lui-même, c’est encore une somme de 30 millions de francs qui est recherchée.

700 years of village his T and 100 years of T ourism