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1996: Solar-Powered Aircraft Flies over Germany

The world’s most advanced solar-powered airplane, the icare 2, flies over Germany. The aircraft was designed and constructed by a team from the University of Stuttgart composed of members of seven departments in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Its first flight was conducted entirely on solar-generated power, without using supplemental battery power. Its wings and tail section are covered in over 3,000 highly efficient solar cells. [US Department of Energy, 2002 pdf file; icare 2, 2011]