Solar Impulse

​Part zero-emission experiment, part floating laboratory, the Energy Observer recently arrived in Paris on the first stop of its six-year, 50-country mission around the world. The refurbished racing catamaran is powered by wind, solar and hydrogen generated from the seawater through electrolysis.

​When Solar Impulse completed its solar-powered flight around the world, it was more than just a stunt … it was a way of showing how clean tech can be put to practical use. Now, Solar Impulse has taken another step in that direction, by announcing its World Alliance for Clean Technologies.

​​Solar Impulse 2 completed crossing the United States early Saturday with a flight over the Statue of Liberty and landing at New York's JFK airport.

With a night landing at Tulsa Airport, Solar Impulse 2 completed the 11th leg of its solar-electric circumnavigation. With Bertrand Piccard at the controls the aircraft touched down at approximately 11:15 pm CDT after a slight delay due to a slow ascent caused by the aircraft's low power.

A little over a week after pilot Bertrand Piccard touched down at Moffett Airfield in Mountain View, California, Solar Impulse 2 has taken off again. This time the aircraft has André Borschberg in command and will head toward Phoenix Goodyear in Arizona.

After a several month long layover in Hawaii, Solar Impulse 2 is back in the air and on the way to California for the latest leg in its around-the-world journey.

The Solar Impulse 2 solar-powered airplane has already broken a world record. By traveling from Muscat, Oman to Ahmedabad, India, it broke the Solar Impulse team's previous record for longest solar-powered straight distance flight between predeclared waypoints.

Twelve years in the making, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg began piloting their experimental Solar Impulse 2 plane at 7:12 a.m. Abu Dhabi local time, bound for Muscat, Oman, on the first leg in a journey that will require 25 days in the air spread over a period of roughly 5 months.

The route planned for Solar Impulse 2 round-the-world flight has been unveiled. The first solar-powered plane capable of day and night flight, the Si2 will spend 25 days aloft spread over a period of five months as it traverses 35,000 km (22,000 mi) with stops at 12 locations around the globe.

The maiden flight of Solar Impulse 2 took place on Monday morning at Payerne aerodrome in Switzerland. The solar-powered aircraft took off at 5:36 AM CET, when the weather around the aerodrome was at its calmest, with pilot Markus Scherdel at the controls.

Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg unveiled the Solar Impulse 2 on Wednesday. The result of 12 years work, the ultra-light, solar-powered airplane will attempt next year to fly around the world relying exclusively on solar power to keep it aloft for days at a time.

It’s almost 2014 and time for a bit of aeronautical reflection as we look back at what new technologies promise us a hypersonic, jet-packed future of aviation and innovation. So let’s have a glance at Gizmag’s pick of the top five aeronautical achievements of 2013.