DIERIKON (Swit­zer­land): The SolarButterfly — a mini-mobile home powered entirely by sunlight — is about to embark on a four-year global trek to promote climate projects that highlight the shift away from fossil fuels.

Built in Switzerland mostly from recycled plastic bottles fished from the sea, the tiny home deploys its 80-square-metre solar cells much as a butterfly spreads its wings, powering the electric vehicle towing it for around 200 kilometres a day.

“We want to show that there are so many solutions in the world to stop global warming,” said Louis Palmer, the environmental activist behind the project who was the first to circumnavigate the globe in a solar-powered vehicle.

The plan is for the SolarButterfly to begin a tour of Switzerland on May 23, then visit other parts of Europe before heading to North America and then the rest of the world. The journey is scheduled to end in Paris on Dec 12, 2025, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Paris climate agreement.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2022