The Solar Impulse 2, a solar-powered plane is set to resume its record-breaking flight around the globe next month. It will leave from Hawaii under suitable weather conditions, a spokeswoman told AFP on Thursday. She added that location of the first stop on the US mainland is yet to be decided. In July last year, this experimental aircraft was grounded as its solar-powered batteries were facing problems only halfway through its 35,000-kilometer trip. It took the French crew several months to fix the damage from high tropical temperatures during the flight's final Pacific stage, which was a record journey of 5 days and 5 nights between Nagoya, Japan and Hawaii. It was in late February when the plane conducted its first successful test flight after the repairs. The next leg, which should take four days, may end in Los Angeles, San Francisco or Phoenix, Arizona, the spokeswoman said.

‘The destinations in US mainland have not been confirmed yet and will be dependent on weather conditions. We know from experience that crossing the United States is challenging in terms of weather,’ she said. She added that the aim is to reach New York's JFK Airport before crossing the Atlantic, she added.

In March, last year, Solar Impulse 2 left Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and since then has travelled almost 18,000 kilometres. Interestingly, its wings are covered with more than 17,000 photovoltaic cells that charge the batteries when the sun is shining during the day.

Two Pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg are taking alternating turns flying at each stage because the aircraft can accommodate one at a time.

Dubbed the ‘paper plane,’ Solar Impulse 2 has a wingspan of 72 meters, larger than a Boeing 747's, and a weight of 2.3 tonnes, approximately that of a van.

It flies at a maximum altitude of 8,634 meters and must withstand high temperature fluctuations, with the pilots using oxygen tanks to breathe inside the tiny cockpit.

The project aims to demonstrate the possibilities of renewable solar energy.
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