Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard prepares for a test flight of the solar-powered Solar Impulse 2 experimental aircraft in Payerne November 13, 2014. The aircraft, weighing 2.4 tons with a wingspan of 72 meters, is fitted with more than 17,000 solar cells. An attempt to fly around the world in stages using only solar energy will be made in 2015. (Photo by Ruben Sprich/Reuters)

An Iraqi woman and foreigners use pair of compact discs as a filter to watch the partial solar eclipse in war-torn Baghdad, 29 March 2006. Without access to proper equipment to protect their eyes from the sun's rays, eclipse watchers in Iraq used makeshift filters. The moon blotted out the sun over northwest Africa early Wednesday, turning day into night in a total solar eclipse as it swept a shadowy path from the outer tip of Brazil to the steppes of Mongolia. (Photo by Hassan Ammar/AFP Photo)

An illuminated Grangemouth Oil Refinery emits smoke on March 29, 2012 in Grangemouth, Scotland. Government ministers appear to have caused sporadic panic buying of fuel after suggesting that motorists should store petrol in jerry cans at home. Tanker divers have announced that they will strike over pay and conditions, although they have not yet given a date. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

On August 31, 2012, a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled at over 900 miles per second. The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, causing aurora to appear on the night of Monday, September 3. (Photo by NASA/GSFC/SDO via The Atlantic)

A solar-powered plane takes off from Jiangbei International Airport in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Tuesday, April 21, 2015. The Solar Impulse 2 departed Chongqing on Tuesday for a 1190-kilometer (642-mile) flight to the city of Nanjing in eastern China, the sixth leg of its around-the-world flight. (Photo by Chinatopix via AP Photo)

A balloon depicting the face of alien movie character E.T. is seen in the sky at the 15th Solar Balloon Festival in Envigado, Colombia December 31, 2015. (Photo by Fredy Builes/Reuters)

People watch a total solar eclipse from the Bay Bridge in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia March 9, 2016 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. The rare astronomical event is being witnessed Wednesday along a narrow path that stretches across 12 provinces encompassing three times zones and about 40 million people. (Photo by Mohamad Hamzah/Reuters/Antara Foto)

A youth in costume hurries past a mural after dancing at the Sun Festival in Cotacachi, Ecuador, Sunday, June 24, 2018. Across the Andes, from the tip of Argentina as far north as Colombia, indigenous communities are gathering for the southern hemisphere's winter solstice to honor the ancient sun god. (Photo by Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo)