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mk_stjameslast Thursday at 10:20 PM1 replyview on HN

Man this is a middle-schooler level napkin math question.

Take a Boeing 777, it has a wingspan of about 60 meters, and I'll ballpark an average upper wing chord of about 7 meters, for a total upper flat area of about 420 square meters.

High quality modern but standard single sided solar panels can do about 220 watts per square meter is full sunlight (around 22% efficiency tested at a 1000w/m^2 irradiance).

So that is 92,400 watts at full power.

92kW is less than the peak power of a Nissan Leaf. 92kW is 123 horsepower.

The two GE turbofans of a 777 are generating something like 40-50 MW of shaft power during cruise. MW.... megawatts. 50-60,000 horsepower.

Plastering the wing surface of a commercial plane with solar panels would make up less than a quarter of a percent of the total power it uses to produce thrust at cruise, at best case with them fully-lit.

Fully solar sailplanes do exist (NASA's Helios prototypes are an example) but that isn't anything close to a 'normal' aircraft with any appreciable payload/passengers.

So, no need to wonder.


Replies

m463last Thursday at 10:26 PM

I wish I could upvote you more than once. I now realize my middle-school math studies were sub-par :)

yeah, I was thinking of the solar planes. I also didn't know that "horsepower at cruising speed" was something you could look up. obvious now, thanks!

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