Video: Solar powered plane soars over San Francisco Considered the world's most advanced sun-powered plane, the Solar Impulse took off from Moffett Field in Mountain View, California for a two-hour practice flight ahead of a US tour. Four stop overs are planned for Phoenix, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and New York as well as a fifth in either Atlanta, Nashville or St. Louis. André Borschberg, one of the plane's pilots and creators, said the aircraft could be capable of non-stop flight around the world within two years. The Solar Impulse is powered by about 12,000 photovoltaic cells that cover massive wings and charge its batteries, allowing it to fly day and night without jet fuel. It has the wing span of a commercial airplane but the weight of the average family car, making it vulnerable to bad weather. Its creators say the Solar Impulse is designed to showcase the potential of solar power and will never replace fuel-powered commercial flights. The delicate, single-seat plane cruises around 40 mph and can't fly through clouds.