53 451KM ACROSS FOUR CONTINENTS ON SOLAR POWER

+ Click to Enlarge SUN SEEKER: Swiss adventurer Louis Palmer drove round the world in this prototype solar-powered car to raise awareness of clean, sustainable energy sources - Image: AFP

December 19, 2008

A Swiss engineer has completed the first round-the-world trip in a solar-powered car after more than 17 months on the road during which he crossed almost 40 countries.

Louis Palmer, 36, arrived back in Lucerne, Switzerland, yesterday in his "solar taxi" after covering 53 451km across four continents.

He travelled through eastern Europe, the Middle East and India before heading to New Zealand, Australia, south-east Asia, China and the US. He finished his trip with a detour through France, England, Scandinavia and Germany.

The three-wheeled car towed a trailer packed with batteries charged by the sun and reached speeds of 90km/h.

It broke down only twice during the tour, Palmer said, and survived the extreme heat of the Middle East and the hazardous terrain of America's Rocky Mountains.

"It's the first world tour without using a single drop of oil," Palmer said. "I wanted to persuade as many people as possible that renewable energy is ecological, economical and reliable."

Along the way the small blue-and-white car carried about 1000 passengers, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Palmer says the solar taxi could be mass-produced but would need extensive modifications.

He now plans to travel around the world in 80 days for his next challenge, though in a faster car. - AFP