Can a Light-Powered Plane Fly at Night?

Can a solar-powered airplane fly at night?

That's the question that legendary Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard plans to answer when he attempts the first overnight flight of the Solar Impulse, a super light, solar-powered plane. Flying through the night is just one step along the path toward circumnavigation of the globe, planned for 2012.

Piccard is best known for his amazing voyages by balloon. In fact, he was the first circle the Earth non-stop in a balloon, back in 1999. In 2004, he announced his plan to build and test the Solar Impulse, which he terms "a great human adventure."

Solar powered planes are not a brand new concept. What is new is the idea that such a plane can actually fly through the night — setting the stage for the development of commercially viable non-polluting aircraft. Said Piccard in a BBC interview:

"The real success for Solar Impulse would be to have enough millions of people following the project, being enthusiastic about it, and saying 'if they managed to do it around the world with renewable energies and energy savings, then we should be able to do it in our daily life."