I was wondering what the upper limits of solar power is (If we had 100% efficient solar panels, how much power would they generate in full sunlight). I know that it’s impossible to achieve 100% efficiency but as I said before I’m interested in how much energy is theoretically available from solar power.
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The Earth receives 174 petawatts (PW) of incoming solar radiation (insolation) at the upper atmosphere. Approximately 30% is reflected back to space while the rest is absorbed by clouds, oceans and land masses. The spectrum of solar light at the Earth’s surface is mostly spread across the visible and near-infrared ranges with a small part in the near-ultraviolet.
Average over the entire earth = 164 Watts per square meter over a 24 hour day
8 hour summer day, 40 degree latitude 600 Watts per sq. meter for those 8 hours
2000 Watts per sq. meter in the tropics with the sun directly overhead.