Developers of an experimental solar plane have said that they are planning to fly the `Solar Impulse' across the US skies in May.

The developers from Switzerland are planning to announce the list of US cities that are to be visited by the plane as part of its "Across America" tour, which is scheduled to begin in May. Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are set to display the experimental plane and also talk about its countrywide tour at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View on Thursday.

The Solar Impulse aircraft is powered by 12,000 photovoltaic cells fitted on to its massive wings. The solar panels charge its batteries and this enables the plane to fly day and night without the need for jet fuel.  The aircraft's wingspan is as wide as that of a commercial airplane but its weight is much lesser and this might make it venerable to bad weather conditions. The plane has single seating capacity and cannot fly in dense clouds.

Solar Impulse has been designed with an aim to demonstrate the potential of solar power and not as a replacement of commercial flights, according to the creators.