Solar plane successfully departs from Hawaii with no fuel

KAPOLEI, Hawaii — Two pilots are slowly carving their way into a new future of solar-powered flight as one of them embarks on the latest leg of their around-the-world journey in a plane powered only by the sun.

The aircraft landed in Hawaii in July but was forced to stay in the islands after the plane’s battery system sustained heat damage on its trip from Japan.

Pilot Bertrand Piccard, who is flying this leg of the trip, said the idea of crossing the ocean in a solar-powered plane a few years ago stressed him out, but Thursday morning he was confident things would go according to plan.

The wings of Solar Impulse 2, which stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries.

The crew successfully arrived in Hawaii after completing their longest trip to date, but the plane’s batteries became too hot on the first day of its trip from Japan to Hawaii.

The company said there was no weakness in the technology, but they didn’t anticipate similar temperature fluctuations in a tropical climate.