A Swiss-made aircraft with solar panels across its wings departed from Abu Dhabi after dawn on Monday in a historic first attempt to fly around the world using solar energy, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Solar Impulse founder André Borschberg flew the single-seat aircraft into the air at the Al Bateen Executive Airport. He and Solar Impulse co-founder Bertrand Piccard will alternate piloting during layovers over the next five months, where it will travel from continent to continent, crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans on the 35,000-kilometer journey.

Some legs of the trip, such as flying over the oceans, will require the pilot to fly continuously for five days and five nights. The journey will span 25 flight days over five months before the renewable energy plane returns to Abu Dhabi in July or August.

"It is also exciting because you know, you simulate, you calculate, you imagine, but there is nothing like testing and doing it," Borschberg said before takeoff. "I am sure we are all confident and hopefully we will be able to see each other here in five months."

The Solar Impulse 2 aircraft has a wingspan of 72 meters, which is bigger than that of the Boeing 747. The wings are outfitted with 17,248 solar cells that capture solar energy to be transferred to four electrical motors that power the plane's propellers. Four lithium polymer batteries are recharged by the solar cells as well.

The Solar Impulse 2 is made of carbon fiber and weighs about as much as a midsize truck or minivan. Piccard says the best speed for the lightweight aircraft is 25 knots, or 45 kph.

The solar-powered airplane is heading first to nearby Muscat, Oman -- a trip which will reportedly take 10 hours of flight. A passenger jet can make the same journey in just one hour.

The plane will have two stops in India, then head to China. Along the journey, it will stop in Myanmar, Hawaii, Phoenix, Arizona, and at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Stops in southern Europe or Morocco may be necessary depending on weather conditions as it crosses the Atlantic.

The curious can follow the Solar Impulse 2 on its website to find out technical details, like its battery status, energy consumption, and flight path, along with details about the pilot's health and activities. There is also a live feed of the aircraft's Monaco-based control room. Cockpit footage will also be available occasionally.

Borschberg and Bateen told reporters the historic flight is to encourage the world to "confront the Conference on Climate Change of the United Nations, which will define the new Kyoto protocol in December 2015 in Paris." All countries are expected to present targets for a new global climate agreement at the conference.