After 53,451 kilometres, 18 long months and more than 50 countries, Swiss inventor Louis Palmer has finally finished his long drive home.

Palmer, 36, has now become the first person to drive around the world fuelled solely by solar power. His blue and white three-wheeler taxi, although not yet available for mass production, has confirmed scientist’s long-held beliefs that solar energy can replace our dependence on fossil fuels. In fact, the solar energy and design of the vehicle was so successful that the car reached speeds of just under 60mph (90km/h) and only two days of the journey were given to repairs.

Palmer has managed to create quite a media stir during his trip around the world having picked up a host of notable figures along the way. Jay Leno, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and Monaco’s Prince Albert were part of a group of more than 1000 ‘hitchhikers’ that Palmer picked up during his trip across the planet.

Palmer’s next trip will be to travel around the world in 80 days using only solar energy although his next car might need to be able to reach speeds of more than 60mph in order to make this a reality.