Solar Impulse 2 has begun its circumnavigation around the world. The journey began on the 9th of March when the solar powered plane left Abu Dhabi – it will be the first round-the-world flight in a plane powered only by solar energy.

The carbon fibre aircraft has a wing span of 72 meters and weights around 2300kgs – the lithium battery bank accounts for 633kgs of that. The battery bank is charged by the 17 000 solar cells that cover most of the wingspan. Together, the solar and the batteries run the 4 electric motors that fly the plane.

Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) took off from Abu Dhabi on the 9th of March and travelled the 733km to Muscat, Oman. From there it travelled 1434kms to Ahmedabad, India where is has been delayed by weather. The latest posts to their website say that it will leave Ahmedabad on Wednesday 18th March for a short stop in Varanasi, India before going on to Mandalay, Myanmar.

From there, Si2 will continue on to Chongqing and Nanjing in China, then Hawaii, Phoenix and New York in the USA before going to Southern Europe and back to Abu Dhabi. They are expected to complete the journey around the middle of this year after doing a total of around 35 000kms.

ABB has helped to make this whole journey possible with their ground-breaking technology and increased power yields.

“ABB is proud of its innovation and technology alliance with Solar Impulse, and to be accompanying the first round-the-world flight powered by the sun on its journey,” said ABB Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Spiesshofer. “ABB and Solar Impulse are passionate about pushing the boundaries of technology and innovation to achieve a better world.”

Si2’s live progress can be monitored on their website.