Solar phased arrays-based wireless power transfer for commercial airlines can reduce energy costs and carbon emissions in the United States
For the aviation industry and policymakers, this work provides a quantitative assessment of wireless power beaming as a corridor-specific strategy to complement other aviation decarbonization pathways.
This study evaluates a new infrastructure pathway for decarbonizing aviation by using solar phased arrays to wirelessly beam microwave power to hybrid-electric aircraft during cruise. Integrating 143,152 U.S. flight trajectories and 5,712 solar farms, the analysis finds that benefits are concentrated in solar-rich, traffic-dense states and dominated by short- and medium-range flights, with non-linear scaling between solar farm and flight adoption.
Decarbonizing aviation remains challenging because energy-dense jet fuels dominate beyond short-range operations, while batteries impose severe range and payload penalties. Here we evaluate a new infrastructure pathway in which utility-scale solar farms equipped with solar phased arrays wirelessly beam microwave power to hybrid-electric aircraft during cruise. Integrating 143,152 U.S. flight trajectories, 5,712 solar farms and wireless power transfer models, we quantify the spatial, temporal, and operational potential of this concept at continental scale. We find that benefits are highly concentrated in solar-rich, traffic-dense states and are dominated by short- and medium-range flights, accounting for nearly all delivered energy and cost savings. Schedule optimization and higher cruise altitudes further increase value by improving alignment between aircraft demand and beaming availability. Market penetration analysis reveals non-linear scaling between solar farm and flight adoption. These results show that wireless power beaming is best understood as a corridor-specific strategy complementing other aviation decarbonization pathways.