Solar powered round-the-world plane revealed

A solar powered plane, which makers hope will soon be able to fly around the world, has been revealed by Swiss adventurer Dr Bertrand Piccard.

Piccard says they will now start testing the 1,500kg "Solar Impulse" plane which has a massive jumbo-jet-sized wingspan of 61m, ahead of his attempt to fly across the Atlantic in 2012.

The catchily named propeller plane "HB-SIA" is powered by four motors which are driven by 12,000 solar cells on each wing but only weights the same as a family car.

While it has batteries, the team behind the £80million project say it still has problem flying at night or in dark weather conditions.