4 ms·

Question: why have commercial airlines not added solar panels to the wings to power things like the a/c systems or other auxiliary power requirements? Could tha

• evgen 14y ago
  Solar panels add weight, offer no structural support, complicate maintenance, and would need to to have their transparent cover hardened somewhat to deal with the sort of beating that an airplane skin takes. Not impossible, but you would probably see it first on the top of the fuselage rather than the wings and they would still only offer a small boost to the onboard APU. It is possible that by covering the skin the panels would also make it harder to inspect the pressure envelope that is the real skin of the plane underneath the panels for wear and fatigue. The engines are already some very efficient generators, so the panels would have to be very good to justify their added weight.