Abstract

"Solar Challenger: Energy, Environment, and the Spectacle of Solar Aviation, 1973-1987"

Karlyn Allenbrand, University of Delaware (karlyna@udel.edu)

In the summer of 1981, Solar Challenger—an experimental airplane powered entirely by solar
energy—successfully crossed the English Channel. Designed by American physicist Paul B.
MacCready, the plane received international acclaim for his innovative use of photovoltaic cells
and unconventional design. Partnering with DuPont, MacCready replaced aluminum and steel
components commonly used in aircraft production with a mixture of lightweight plastics.
Developed amid the dual energy crises of the 1970s and a burgeoning environmental
movement, Solar Challenger merged MacCready’s commitment to low-carbon transportation
with DuPont’s corporate ambitions for engineered plastics in the American aerospace industry.
I argue that Solar Challenger functioned as a form of speculative design—a “performance” of
solar energy intended to generate public support for low-carbon power sources. MacCready
made both technical decisions to meet the demands of solar propulsion and deliberate aesthetic
choices, embedding the aircraft with progressive social and environmental values to engage with
public discourse around alternative energies and environmental reform. At the same time, Solar
Challenger was shaped by DuPont’s commercial interest in plastics, which at times hindered
MacCready’s environmental message.
Historians have largely approached the history of solar energy through failed infrastructural
projects, but as David Nye argues in Electrifying America (1990), our experience of abstract
“things” like energy is often mediated through objects rather than systems. Building on this
insight, I propose an object-centered approach that focuses on the design and production of solar-
powered artifacts rather than large-scale distribution networks. Through the lenses of design
history, I show how designers used form, materiality, and strategic promotion to advance social
and environmental goals. Using MacCready’s and DuPont’s papers, I examine how their
competing visions reveal broader tensions between design, energy, and environmental values
that often conflicted with commercial interests, shaping how solar technologies are perceived
today.