Adding solar panels to your house or business and using this renewable energy has become quite normal these days. How can we depend on using renewable energy when we travel? In short, at the moment you can’t unless you are a multi-millionaire and have built your own solar powered boat or plane.

However, thanks to 55 year old Bertrand Picard, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for the rest of us less wealthy people! Recently he has spent much of his time flying in his prototype plane which has a similar wingspan to an Airbus A340. The prototype plane was developed and built in Switzerland and in recent months has been in the USA flying to New York from San Francisco. This journey was done in 5 stages. Picard’s goal is to circumnavigate the world with his next generation of plane in 2015.

He is not the only one who has harnessed the power of the sun through solar power to travel the world. Li Linxiang and his wife have built a solar powered tricycle and intend on traveling from China on a journey that will see them possibly cover the entire globe. A mammoth task that, if successful will take them 5 years to complete.

Some cruise liners also use solar power to supplement the massive need for electricity that these vessels have.

Solar panels are becoming more and more common even on a small travelling scale such as on campers and caravans. People are now able to travel across great distance using only solar panels and a small battery system rather than having to stop constant and hire a powered camp site. Saving them not only money but reducing their carbon footprint while they enjoy their holiday!

While we remain largely dependent on fossil fuels for large scale travel, there are some very exciting developments out there that could see the way we get to our holiday destinations change drastically using less pollutants and more renewable energy creating a cleaner greener future for generations to come.