Piccard and Borschberg took turns in each of the 17 stages of the trip which began and ended in Abu Dhabi (UAE). In total, the project has broken 19 aviation records for solo and long distance flights. The longest leg of the trip took the team almost 9,000km from Nagoya, Japan to Hawaii, US lasting 4 days, 21 hours and 21 minutes.
Despite being more than 150 million kilometres away, the Sun beams on average 1400 Watts of energy per m2 on Earth. As solar cell efficiency is improved year on year, plans to use solar-powered drones in the telecommunication industry has become an increasingly attractive market prospect.
Bertrand Piccard spoke to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon live from the Solar Impulse 2 cockpit hours before landing: “Solar Impulse has flown more than 40,000 kilometres without fuel, but with an inexhaustible supply of energy and inspiration.”