Solar Impulse 2

The future is upon us.

Scratch that, the future is here.

Move over aviation fuel, solar is taking over.

On Sunday, the 23^rd of July, 2016, the first solar power aircraft (dubbed Solar Impulse 2) took off from the Capital of Egypt, Cairo, en route to Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, its final destination, on what should be the last leg of this historically trip around the world, expected to take between 48 – 72 hours.

As reported on Voice of America, Solar Impulse 2, built of lightweight materials, is an enormous but slender aircraft. Its wingspan is wider than that of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, but the entire plane weighs less than 2,300 kilograms, including 17,000 solar cells that convert sunlight into electrical energy.

The start of the Solar Plane Tour began 17 months ago, as a campaign to build support for clean energy technologies and it first took off in Abu Dhabi and has been piloted by Swiss Aviators André Borschberg and Betrand Piccard, each taking turns in flying the aircraft.

“The round the world flight ends in Abu Dhabi, but not the project,” Piccard is quoted as telling Reuters a few days before takeoff.

The plane had earlier secured a place in the record books by being the first plane to cross the Atlantic, from New York's JFK airport to Seville in Spain, then also piloted by Piccard, without a single drop of fuel. It also set the record for the longest solo flight, five days and five nights, without fuel, from Nagoya in Japan to Hawaii. (CNN)

Speaking about this dream becoming a reality, Piccard is quoted as saying, “I started to dream about this project 17 years ago in 1999 when I finished my hot air balloon landing in Egypt, so 17 years later I take off where the balloon landed”