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Through the project, they wanted to help kickstart change—not just in airplanes, but in transportation in general, in housing, and in all energy-consuming products.

In aviation, some of the ideas used in Solar Impulse are already being used in other projects. Airbus recently announced that it plans to build a 19-seat electric plane. NASA is working on another small electric plane. “If you think about the future of aviation, it’s quite clear we will move in the direction of electric propulsion because of its efficiency,” Borschberg says.

The motor in the Solar Impulse is 97% efficient, compared with about 30% efficiency in a typical car. “Seventy percent of the gasoline that you put in your tank is lost as heat,” he says. “Electric propulsion is what made it possible to fly day and night.”…….

They’re also hoping that the success of their round-the-world flight inspires more people to use renewable energy in general. “If we can do it on a plane, we can certainly do it everywhere on the ground,” he says. http://www.fastcoexist.com/3062222/the-solar-impulse-plane-just-finished-flying-around-the-world-with-zero-fuel