120,000 TWs reaches the surface of the planet according to:
http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/reports/files/SEU_rpt.pdf
"The solar availability at the top of the atmosphere is 170,000 TW, of
which 120,000 TW strikes the Earth (the
remainder being scattered by the atmosphere and clouds)."
AG
On 11/15/2011 2:02 PM, Jed Rothwell wrote:
<mix...@bigpond.com <mailto:mix...@bigpond.com>> wrote:
This figure is too high. The amount intercepted by the Earth is 5
million quads
per annum above the atmosphere, and then some of this is directly
reflected back
into space by cloud cover.
Where did you get that info?
I looked all around for that. I found that one site that expresses the
number in quads, and it seemed to compare to the others that show the
value in different units.
http://www.ecoworld.com/energy-fuels/how-much-solar-energy-hits-earth.html
Is there a more authoritative and detailed site than this?
Most of them discuss solar insolation in units such as square meters
for various locations. That is needed for solar energy planning. They
do not include a planet-wide analysis. You cannot extrapolate from
local insolation given the extremes at the poles.
- Jed
