A plane powered by the sun's rays has landed in Hawaii after a record-breaking five-day journey across the Pacific Ocean from Japan.
Pilot Andre Borschberg and his single-seat solar aircraft arrived today at Kalaeloa, a small airport outside Honolulu after taking off from Nagoya about 120 hours ago.
His team says his trip broke the record for the world's longest nonstop solo flight. The late US adventurer Steve Fossett set the previous record of 76 hours.
But the Solar Impulse 2 is flying without fuel. Instead, it's 17,000 solar cells charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night.
Borschberg and co-pilot Bertrand Piccard have been taking turns flying the plane on an around-the-world voyage since taking off from Abu Dhabi in March. After Hawaii, it will head to Phoenix.
The plane is visiting Hawaii just as the state has embarked on its own ambitious clean energy project. Gov David Ige last month signed legislation directing the state's utilities to generate 100 per cent of their electricity from renewable energy resources by 2045.
Hawaii's utilities currently get 21 per cent of their power from renewable sources.
The plane began its global voyage in abu Dhabi in March. It has stopped in Oman, India, Myanmar, China and Japan in the months since.
The pilots aim to demonstrate the potential of energy efficiency and renewable power with the project. Solar-powered air travel is not yet commercially practical though, given the slow travel time, weather and weight constraints of the aircraft.
