Solar Impulse è stato ideato dall'esploratore svizzero Bertrand Piccard

(AP Photo/Keystone/Fabrice Coffrini/Pool)

The experimental aircraft “Solar Impulse” is prepared to take off with pilot Andre Borschberg onboard from Payerne’s Swiss airbase on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 on the first attempt to fly around the clock fueled by nothing but the energy of the sun. A Swiss team planning to eventually circle the globe in a solar-powered plane has started a 24-hour test flight that aims to keep the aircraft operating through the night on stored energy collected from the sun.