Talk:Solar irradiance

Fundamental Question to all
Doesn't the magnetosphere interfere with "solar radiation"? Shouldnt the subtractions from space insolation include Earth magnetosphere caused reductions? Didnt see magnetosphere in intro paragraph of this topic. Or did i miss something? Thanks to all. Mike H.  mlhootenoutlook

Erroneous table?
The table under Solar_irradiance is confusing at best and possibly profoundly erroneous. In general you cannot convert between power and energy without knowing time. In this table (pasted to the side), it appears the assumption is 24 hours per day of full sun, which is not true for any spot on earth. I suggest that we delete the entire table.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

--Lonny (LRG) (talk) 21:52, 9 April 2020 (UTC)


 * The table is correct. All quantities are (or are equivalent to) power per unit area. In the case of sun-hour/day, a sun-hour is defined as one hour of 1kW/m^2 irradiation per day = 1kWh/(m^2 day). In the case of kWh/(kWp year), it is equivalent to a measure of the average irradiance during a year. --Ita140188 (talk) 03:15, 10 April 2020 (UTC)


 * I am not sure about how useful it is though. These quantities can be compared in terms of units, but they represent very different things, so a conversion table is not that useful in my opinion, and may be misleading. So personally I am ok with removing it. --Ita140188 (talk) 03:18, 10 April 2020 (UTC)

Solar radiation is a synonym?
Have I got it right when I say that solar radiation is a synonym for solar irradiation? If so, I'd like to add it to the first sentence. The term does redirect here already. Pinging User:Bikesrcool. EMsmile (talk) 11:03, 19 April 2024 (UTC)


 * Irradiance typically implies use of power flux units (power/area). Radiation is the generic or looser term as I understand; might be accompanied by units of power, energy, power/area, energy/area, power/solid angle, etc. Bikesrcool (talk) 12:26, 20 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Thanks! I think we should explain this in the article, perhaps in a new section on definition or terminology? I mean it's a bit odd that "solar radiation" redirects to this article but is not explained explicitly w.r.t how it differs to solar irradiance. For what it's worth I posed the question to Chat GPT ("is solar radiation the same as solar irradiance?") and got this answer: "Solar radiation and solar irradiance are related concepts but not exactly the same.
 * Solar radiation refers to the electromagnetic energy emitted by the Sun. This energy includes visible light, infrared radiation, ultraviolet radiation, and other forms of electromagnetic radiation.
 * Solar irradiance, on the other hand, specifically refers to the power per unit area (typically measured in watts per square meter) of solar radiation received at a given location on Earth's surface. It represents the intensity of solar radiation incident on a surface.
 * In simpler terms, solar radiation is the total energy emitted by the Sun, while solar irradiance is the amount of that energy received per unit area on the Earth's surface." EMsmile (talk) 16:23, 21 April 2024 (UTC)