this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2026
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Outside earths atmosphere. Only ~650 Watts/m^2 reach the surface of our planet.
No that's not right, it's about 1000 watts/m2 on the surface. But it is on a totally clear day with the sun directly overhead. So depending on your latitude you get less per m2 because the Earth is round.
On the power outside the atmosphere I didn't comment because I was too lazy to look it up, the and I knew the number of the previous commenter was in the ballpark.
Regarding the surface: my apologies, I quoted a number from university that must have been a simplification for a calculation exercise, and I made the mistake of never thinking about it critically. Turns out I was wrong.