Solar-powered plane completes historic flight

CTV National News: Around the world on sunlight A pair of explorers has proven that a plane really can fly around the world without a drop of fuel. John Vennavally-Rao reports.

A solar powered plane has landed in Abu Dhabi, completing a historic round-the-world trip with stops in India, Asia, Europe and North America.

Solar Impulse 2 took off in March 2015 and spent more than a year making its way back to its starting point of Abu Dhabi.

"I've been waiting for this moment for 15 years," said Solar Impulse chairman and pilot, Bertrand Piccard, in an impromptu speech on the tarmac shortly after landing.

The plane is part of a project with Masdar – Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company – aimed at raising awareness about reducing energy consumption, saving natural resources and improving the quality of life for the world.

"We should never accept the world to be polluted only because people are scared to think another way," Piccard said.

The Solar Impulse project is the brainchild of Piccard and Andre Borschberg. The duo also flew the Solar Impulse 2, taking turns piloting the single-seater plane.

Despite being roughly the size a Boeing 747, Solar Impulse 2 only weighs 2,300 kilograms, which is as much as a small van.

The wings of Solar Impulse 2, which stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,248 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night.

The plane flew at a speed of between 45 km/h and 90 km/h throughout its journey.

The project is estimated to have cost more than $100 million, with funding from Masdar as well as 40 additional sponsors.

The plane has established several records during its flight around the globe, with organizers billings its 71-hour flight across the Atlantic as the first time a solar-powered plane has made the journey using zero fuel and emissions.

The organizers also said the journey from Nagoya, Japan to Kalaeloa, Hawaii lasted nearly 118 hours and broke the record for the world's longest nonstop solo flight.

In an interview with CTV News Channel on Tuesday, Piccard said that the overall round-the-world record is the most meaningful to him.

“Of course, this is even better than the longest leg or the highest altitude records,” Piccard said.

Despite the records, there were several hiccups.

The flight was delayed for a month in Japan after high winds damaged a wing.

The plane was then delayed nine months after the batteries overheated on the trip from Japan to Hawaii, and there was no way to cool down the technology.

With the trip now in the record books, the organizers say they want to turn the focus to how Solar Impulse 2's technology could be applied to other technology.

Piccard said that he hopes the project motivates others to “achieve the impossible” with clean technologies, and “be inspired use them also in their own business or their own community.”

With files from The Associated Press