Picture flying about 8,500 meters above the ground in a plane fueled only by the sun. That’s what Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, founders of the Solar Impulse project, did last summer in Solar Impulse 2.
After more than four months of travel, Piccard and Borschberg completed the first flight around the world in a solar-powered airplane.
More than 17,000 solar cells on the plane’s wings collected the sun’s energy. This energy powered the plane.
The pilots took turns flying about 40,000 kilometers. They made seven stops in the U.S and visited eight other countries, including Spain and Egypt. The pilots’ goal is to promote what can be accomplished with renewable energy.