An experimental solar-powered aircraft took off Wednesday from a Swiss airbase in a bid to make history by flying round the clock and through the night.

Solar Impulse whirred along the runway at Payerne in western Switzerland, reaching 35 kilometres per hour (22 mph) as lone pilot Andre Borschberg gently lifted into clear skies at 6.51 am (0451 GMT) on a scheduled 25 hour flight.

“This should be a great day of all goes well,” said team chief Bertrand Piccard, who made the first non-stop round-the-world flight in a balloon ten years ago.

What its makers say is the world’s biggest boat powered by the sun was unveiled in Germany on Thursday ahead of its planned circumnavigation of the globe in 2011 — the first under solar power.

“This is a unique feeling to see in front of me today a boat which I so often dreamed about,” said Raphael Domjan, the boat’s future skipper.

The sleek, 31- by 15-metre (100 by 50 foot) catamaran, known as PlanetSolar, 35 metres by 23 metres when flaps at the stern and the sides are included, will be “silent and clean,” say its makers, also called PlanetSolar.

The vessel will be able to achieve a top speed of around 15 knots, (25 kilometres per hour), and can accommodate 50 people on its round-the-world voyage.

Remember the solar powered Dubai Sea Limousine (an eco-friendly mode of transportation to and from the islands of The World)?

Raising the bar further, Dennis Ingemansson has designed this 45m superyacht that shows the trend toward the eco-friendly yachts of the future.

Designed for the Dutch company Esthec, the superyacht generates solar energy to propel the yacht’s electric engine.

Remember the solar powered Dubai Sea Limousine (an eco-friendly mode of transportation to and from the islands of The World)?

Raising the bar further, Dennis Ingemansson has designed the Solar Gem superyacht that shows the trend toward the eco-friendly yachts of the future.

Not only is it made of recyclable material, but it also has a hybrid electric system which is fueled by solar and wind energy.

This amazing look machine is the Code X Yacht, an ultra performance hybrid sports boat built by Code-X in Meggen on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland.

She’s powered by a pair of Ilmor Marine 710 horsepower V10 Formula 1 engines that push along at 90 knots (167 km/h).

For less frenetic, more environmentally conscious cruising, the owner can choose, via a touch-pad screen, to rely either solely or partly on a bank of photovoltaic modules supplying electric motors and/or lithium batteries.

Alastair Callender took luxury yachting to all new highs with his recent project, the “Soliloquy,” which is not only a luxury yacht, but also an eco-friendly one.

It is run by wind, solar and Hybrid Marine Power technology.

“The use of renewable and hybrid-electric energy will bring zero-emission capabilities and result in greater savings in fuel costs”.