A lightweight Solar-powered plane set records for flying for 26 hours nonstop over Switzerland. The plane averaged a ground speed of 26 miles per hour and reached speeds as high as 78 miles per hour. The plane set records for the longest and highest flight by a solar plane, reaching over 28,000 feet above sea level.

The Solar Impulse plane used 12,000 solar panels to power propellers and four small electric engines. The plane charged during the day and used the stored power to continue to fly through the night. In theory, such a plane could stay aloft indefinitely. Its 208 foot wingspan equals that of a standard jetliner, but this mode of travel is not quite ready for consumer travel yet.

Retired Swiss fighter pilot Andre Borschberg squeezed into the vehicle’s tiny cockpit where he experienced both turbulence and subzero temperatures which caused his water to freeze and his iPod batteries to die. Despite these difficulties, Mr. Borschberg said, “I’ve been a pilot for 40 years now, but this flight has been the most incredible one of my flying career.”

Solar power is a renewable energy source which is growing in popularity worldwide as a source for green power for homes and businesses. Solar Power has also been used experimentally to power some cars and commercially to power some boats. Swiss engineers have come up with a car, the Solartaxi, that uses both electricity and solar power to successfully travel on roads worldwide. Solar Powered aircrafts are not nearly as common as other modes of transportation.

Project founders for the Solar Impulse airplane next hope to successfully fly a Solar Powered Plane around the world.

Photo via Deutsche Bank AG