The Solar Impulse project, based in Switzerland, aims to build a solar-powered airplane capable of a round-the-world flight. In June, the team unveiled its first flying prototype, a lightweight single-seat aircraft with the wingspan of an Airbus–more than 200 feet. It carries more than 12,000 solar cells to charge a bank of batteries that power four electric motors. The prototype will begin flight tests this year, and the feedback from those experiments will be used to build a second aircraft, which will circumnavigate the world in 2012. Bertrand Piccard, who piloted the first round-the-world nonstop flight in a balloon, leads the project. The goal is to showcase the capabilities of alternative energy sources and encourage their use

These won’t come for another 15 years, but they represent a significant change in philosophy from current models, including that Sonic Cruiser model that looks—in technical terms—absofrikkinlutely damn cool. [Airliners via Flight Global]