The ongoing round-the-world voyage of Solar Impulse 2 is involving several Swiss companies. They have provided tailored systems or have embedded their engineers into the solar-powered aircraft project’s team. ABB, Omega, Schindler and Swisscom; not all are regularly involved in aerospace, but all expect a return on innovation.

Tamara Tursijan is a Solar Impulse ground engineer, provided by power and automation giant ABB. She deals with the mobile inflatable hangar than accommodates the aircraft at those airports where no other shelter is available. The hangar was developed specifically for the Solar Impulse project and Tursijan is in charge of power inside the hangar. “I upgraded the power control system with ABB systems to make it more secure and redundant,” she said.

On the plane itself, she has helped the electric team with “wiring and upgrading some systems.” ABB also supplied some of its hardware products, such as switchgear and relays.

Watch manufacturer Omega has contributed to designing an instrument that sends a warning to the pilot when the bank angle exceeds the five-degree limit. The pilot receives the alert via a vibrating sleeve, also developed by Omega. The company has also created a special alarm that emits a loud buzz, between 90 to 100 decibels, every 20 minutes. The pilot has to push a button to turn the sound off and restart the 20-minute countdown.

Omega’s landing-light system, including promotional and landing LED lights, the focusing lenses, cables, power transformer and connectors weighs just one kilogram (2.2 lbs).

On each wing, the aircraft carries one energy dispatcher, ensuring that either gondola battery can support the other on the same wing in the event that one engine fails. Another Omega contribution is a DC-DC converter to convert the energy from the gondola batteries to a low voltage (28V), suitable for the cockpit equipment. Finally, Omega supplied a test bench to simulate the plane’s electric system on the ground.

In satellite communications, Swisscom designed a lightweight solution for the cockpit to transmit data, live images and voice. It supplied a tablet for e-mail and displaying navigation information. The pilot can receive weather images from the mission control center in Monaco. The satellite link supports the transmission of 100 parameters–engine temperature, battery voltage, aircraft position and so on.

The entire system, from the microphone, camera and tablet to the antenna, weighs less than five kilograms (11 lbs). The power consumption is kept below 50 watts. All the components can withstand temperatures from -40C to 80C and altitudes up to 30,000 feet. Swisscom experts are working at the mission control center, optimizing the bandwidth.

Elevator manufacturer Schindler emphasizes what it expects from its involvement in the project. “By embedding [our] engineers in the Solar Impulse project, Schindler is using targeted innovations that revolutionize the structure of materials, improve their robustness and massively reduce their weight,” the firm said. These innovations range from the aircraft’s tubular design–described as a quantum leap in machine engineering–to new honeycomb structures with extremely high torsional stability and the sophisticated solar technology.

Schindler hopes this will achieve “a marked and sustainable reduction in energy consumption” in its installations. “I have gained valuable insight into what lightweight structures can achieve,” explained Christian Studer, who usually works at Schindler New Technologies.

Last, but not least, Swiss Re is Solar Impulse’s insurance underwriter.