World's first solar-powered aircraft to land in Gujarat on Tuesday

Ahmedabad, March 9 (IANS) Solar Impulse, which claims to be the world's only solar-powered aircraft, will make a stop over in Ahmedabad on Tuesday as a part of its maiden global journey.

"Solar Impulse will take off from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and land in Ahmedabad after making a first stop over at Muscat in Oman. It will make a pit-stop in Ahmedabad," a release issued by the aircraft project's PR firm said here.

After making a landing here, the aircraft's founders and pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg are likely to stay in the city for a couple of days before leaving for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the release said.

Piccard and Borschberg, during their stay in the city, will reach out to the government, NGOs, universities and schools to spread the message of clean technologies.

"We want youth, leaders, organisations and policy makers to understand that what Solar Impulse can achieve in the air, everyone can accomplish here on the ground in their everyday lives. Renewable energy can become an integral part of our lives, and together, we can help save our planet's natural resources," Piccard said.

The aircraft is also likely to hover above the Ganges in Varanasi to spread the message of cleanliness and clean energy.

Solar Impulse claims to be the first aircraft to fly day and night without a drop of fuel, propelled solely by the Sun's energy, as per the project's website.

The single-seater aircraft made of carbon fibre has a 72-metre wingspan, larger than that of Boeing-747 and weighs just 2,300kg, it said.

The 17,248 solar cells built into the wing supply the electric motors with renewable energy.

The solar cells recharge four lithium polymer batteries that allow the aircraft to fly at night.