eli5 – Why can’t planes take off/land using fuel but fly using solar power when in flight (daytime)

Question

Surely it would save some carbon emissions if the plane was clad in solar panels and could use solar energy once airborne/above the clouds?

In: 0

Answer 1

There’s a plane that tried that, there basically wasn’t enough surface area to get enough light to power the propellers enough (you still need to use the propellers to stay flying, otherwise you’re just slowly gliding down) so at that point, it’s just a waste of money for not enough power

(I think it was an old discovery or history Channel thing about it)