特兰·皮卡德(Bertrand Piccard)在一次燃料耗尽的旅程中萌生了打造一架能环游地球的太阳能飞机的想法。1999年3月，皮卡德的热气球环球旅行进入最后一段行程──这也是有史以来首次热气球不间断环球飞行──他乘坐的"百年灵卫星3号"热气球(Breitling Orbiter 3)在埃及沙漠的上空低低地掠过，滑行一段后停在了起伏的旷野中。在爬出热气球踏上滚烫的沙地时，他检查了安在吊篮上的油箱，结果让他大吃一惊，这一刻成为了一个决定性的时刻。他回忆道："我们离开瑞士时有四吨丙烷。最后只剩了40公斤！我们差点儿没有到达终点。当时我就发誓，下一次我要不使用任何燃料环游世界。"今年55岁的皮卡德是一名受过专业教育的精神病医生，举止沉着又很热情。他出身于探险世家，所以他擅长于确保总会有"下一次"也就不足为奇了。上世纪30年代，他的祖父奥古斯特(Auguste)设计了一个配备增压座舱的热气球，打破了升空高度纪录，后来他成为了漫画《丁丁历险记》(The Adventures of Tintin)中卡尔库鲁斯教授(Professor Calculus)的人物原型。他的父亲雅克(Jacques)则在1960年乘坐另一种增压装置潜入太平洋底下七英里（约合11公里）处，创下潜水深度最高纪录，这一纪录只有两次被人追平。
FOR BERTRAND PICCARD, the idea to build a solar-powered plane capable of circumnavigating the globe was hatched while running on empty. In March 1999, Piccard was on the final leg of an around-the-world journey by hot air balloon-the first-ever nonstop flight of its kind-when his Breitling Orbiter 3 swept low over the Egyptian desert and skidded to a halt on the corrugated plains. As Piccard stepped out onto the hot sand, he checked the fuel tanks mounted on his gondola and got a shock that became a defining moment. 'We had left Switzerland with four tons of propane,' he remembers. 'We only had 40 kilos left! We almost didn't make it. I promised myself that next time I would fly around the world without using any fuel at all.'
2003年，皮卡德接洽了一些欧洲企业赞助他的项目（如今已发展为一个资金规模达1.48亿美元的项目），开始组建一个包括80名工程师和技师的团队，这些人员主要从瑞士各高校调来。在捣鼓了七年之后，他们建成了一部看似简单的装置──"阳光动力号"(Solar Impulse)。它线条明快简洁，颜色为白色高光，长208英尺（约合63米）的机翼角度有所倾斜（它们有些弯曲以增强飞机的稳定性）。它就像史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs)重新构想出来的一架巨型巴尔沙木儿童滑翔机模型。
The 55-year-old Piccard, a trained psychiatrist with a confident, intense manner to match, is adept at making sure there is always a 'next time'-no surprise, since he's descended from explorer royalty. His grandfather, Auguste, broke high altitude records in the '30s by designing a balloon with a pressurized cockpit, and later became the inspiration for Professor Calculus in the Tintin comics. In 1960, Piccard's father, Jacques, descended seven miles beneath the Pacific Ocean in another pressurized module to set a deep-dive record that has been matched only twice.
前瑞士空军王牌飞行员、麦肯锡公司(McKinsey & Company)顾问安德烈·博尔施伯格(Andre Borschberg)指出："借助太阳能连续环球飞行的关键是要在太阳没出来时，特别是在晚上的时候还能飞行。"博尔施伯格也是该项目的首席执行长，负责管理设计团队并轮换驾驶飞机。最终的解决方案是四组专门研制出的聚合物锂电池，它们可储存源自安装在水平稳定器和机翼上的近12,000块太阳能电池嵌板的能量（这些电池板由个人赞助，每人出资200美元左右，美国前副总统阿尔·戈尔(Al Gore)也赞助了一块）。飞机在白天逐渐爬升至高达30,000英尺（约合9,150米）高度的期间，电池就会积蓄能量。在日落后，飞机会缓慢下降至较低的高度，凭借白天存储的能量飞行至黎明，然后这个过程又会重新开始。
In 2003, Piccard approached European companies to sponsor what has become a $148 million project and began assembling a team of 80 engineers and technicians plucked largely from Swiss universities. After seven years of tinkering, they arrived at a machine with a deceptively simple design: Solar Impulse-with its sleek, clean lines, white-gloss finish and rakishly angled 208-foot wings (bent to increase the plane's stability)-resembles what you might get had Steve Jobs reimagined a child's balsa-wood glider in giant form.
该飞机的设计最具革命性的方面是它采用了将重量降至最轻的材料。每一盎司不必要的重量都会被舍弃，以让飞机能够支撑哪怕只有一个飞行员的载荷。博尔施伯格回忆说："当时我们进行了可行性研究，发现市面上的任何一种建材都无法让我们把飞机降到合适的重量。我们找了航空公司谈，看看他们是否能研制出这种材料，每个人都说那是不可能的，所以我们找到了一家造船公司。"
'The crux to flying nonstop around the world with solar energy is being able to fly even when the sun isn't out, especially at night,' notes Andr
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