hanks to nearly 12,000 solar cells and four electrically-powered propellers, it's the first aircraft in the world that can fly without any fuel -- day or night.
The 63-meter wide, 1,600 kilogram plane is already a record breaker, staying in the air for 26 unbroken hours in 2010.
But it's about more than just flying, says pilot Andre Borschberg.
"We want to show what can be done with these technologies," Borschberg says.
Can solar power fuel future flight?
"We can keep our quality of life but reduce our energy consumptions, reduce our dependency on oil and nuclear energy."
The idea for Solar Impulse came from Bertrand Piccard, the first man to travel non-stop around the world in a balloon.
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