Beijing Dec. 9（People's Daily Online）-- Solar Impulse, the only airplane able to fly day and night without fossil energy and pollutant emission, will fly around the world in stages using only solar energy, from March 2015 to the end of the summer. During this round-the-world flight the plane will land in China’s Chongqing and Nanjing. A series of activities promoting environmental protection and clean technology will be led by the solar impulse team in China, including inviting young people to visit the plane.

On Dec. 8, 2014, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, the two founders and pilots of Solar Impulse, announced the 2015 round-the-world flight at a press conference held at the Swiss Embassy in China.

Solar Impulse, originating from Switzerland, is a non-profit project founded by private companies. A multidisciplinary team from a wide range of backgrounds joined together to make this solar-powered plane possible. With this round-the-world flight with no fuel and no polluting emissions, Solar Impulse aims to demonstrate the enormous potential of clean technologies for energy saving and renewable energy production.

The plane has even flown through the night, between two continents, and across the United States. The round-the-world mission will take place from the beginning of March to the end of July 2015. The plane will take off at Abu Dhabi and fly over the Gulf, India, Myanmar, China, the USA and Southern Europe or North Africa and then come back to the start point to complete the flight.

During the flight, the plane will land every few days and change pilot. Explaining the choice of Chongqing and Nanjing, the two pilots explained that because the plane is solar powered and light in weight, it can only fly in good weather, so the flight corridor in China has been planned according to meteorological conditions. Among the cities in the flight corridor, Nanjing is suitable as the start point for flying across the Pacific, and Chongqing is an important western city of China.

About Solar Impulse

This revolutionary single-seater aircraft made of carbon fiber has a 72 meter wingspan (larger than that of the Boeing 747-8I) for a weight of just 2,300 Kg, equivalent to that of a car. The 17,000 solar cells built into the wing supply four electric motors (17.5 CV each) with renewable energy. During the day, the solar cells recharge lithium batteries weighing 633 Kg (2077 lbs.) which allow the aircraft to fly at night and therefore to have virtually unlimited autonomy.

Bertrand Piccard, Initiator, Chairman and Pilot of Solar Impulse

Bertrand Piccard made the first ever non-stop round-the-world balloon fight. As a psychiatrist, aeronaut and lecturer, chairman of the Winds of Hope charitable foundation, and a United Nations goodwill ambassador, he combines science and adventure in order to tackle some of the great challenges of our times.

André Borschberg, CEO, Co-Founder and Pilot of Solar Impulse

An engineer by education and a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in management science, André Borschberg has solid experience in creating and managing companies as well as in flying.