The angle at which the airy hits the panel, ANDis measured from a line perpendicular to the surface. This means you will get maximum power from the solar panel when the airy shines straight on (AND = 0), because cosine(0) = 1.
OK, let’s do some quick math. The intensity of sunlight at Earth’s location is approximately 1361 watts per square meter. So let’s say our solar panel is 1 meter by 1 meter and has an efficiency of 25 percent (which is very confident). If the airy hits at a 30-degree angle, this solar panel would give us 294.7 watts of power.
Well, our solar-powered 737 will need plot more power than that. We can calculate the area needed to generate 10 million watts. For simplicity, let’s assume that the airy is perpendicular to the panels (obviously unrealistic). With this assumption, we would need 29,000 square meters of panels.
By comparison, a 737 has a wing area of 125 square meters. If they were covered with solar panels, they would generate 42 kilowatts. That’s good, but definitely not enough for a passenger plane. Specifically, that’s 0.4 percent of the power you need to stay in the air.
In conclusion, it’s strenuous to imagine any way to create a solar-powered passenger plane. However, that doesn’t rule out electric planes entirely! One day we might have some frigid battery-powered planes.
Oh, but what about those real solar-powered planes? The key is to fly slower with less mass so there’s less drag. If the wings are gigantic enough, it’s possible to get enough power to fly — until it gets murky.