4 ms·
100w is closer to reality for most places. 1000W per meter squared is an ideal case for some near-equatorual desert at noon with very clean air.
by imaginenore 10y ago
100w is closer to reality for most places. 1000W per meter squared is an ideal case for some near-equatorual desert at noon with very clean air.
- mchannon 10y agoSorry, no. 100W/m2 is highly unusual for any place on Earth. Take the most overcast midday conditions you can imagine and they'll exceed 100W/m2 by a comfortable margin. That can be in Germany, Canada, Colombia, or Antarctica. If it's sunny, it's very close to 1000, no matter where you are. Partly cloudy can even exceed 1000, since clouds can reflect additional sunlight onto the ground. Then there's of course nighttime, which is 0 W/m2. You will have to work really hard to find conditions of 100 W/m2, which is why they standardize on 1000, itself quite straightforward to find anywhere on Earth. "10% sounds right" is specious.
- detaro 10y agoFor Germany the yearly average is 110 W/m² or so. Clear summer days go to >1000, but nights and bad weather days push the average down. Maybe they meant that in the article, maybe they missed a zero. If they meant it, it seems like an odd comparison without data if the cell scales with power. If it doesn't, it can't properly utilize bright days and would miss out on most of that average power.
- imaginenore 10y agoSorry, yes. You're only counting the peak hour of the day. And yes, there's also nighttime, morning, afternoon, and evening. And guess what, nighttime is not zero. The moon gives off some light too.
- Dylan16807 10y agoMoonlight is 0.00 watts per square meter. It's almost a million times dimmer than sunlight.