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For commercial applications, solar powered aircraft are wholly inappropriate. The airlines are already running thin enough profit margins as it is without having to shut down their fleet after dark.
That's assuming, of course, that it's even possible to build one that's practical for commercial applications to begin with. I'm doubtful.
Commercial aircraft have voracious appetites, energy-wise. I have faith that humanity will move away from fossil fuels eventually (economic pressure is a powerful motivator), but I also think that aircraft will likely be the last thing to transition. Using current or near-future technology, there just aren't any viable alternatives. Nothing has the combination of energy density and relative safety of fossil fuels that commercial flight requires.
Given all of this, I don't think solar planes even really fit as a passing fad. They could have their niches, I suppose, but as a mainstream alternative they just don't look viable, in my not humble opinion.
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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said
- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame
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