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The solar "constant" is not a physical constant in the modern CODATA scientific sense; that is, it is not like the Planck constant or the speed of light which are absolutely constant in physics. The solar constant is an average of a varying value. In the past 400 years it has varied less than 0.2 percent. [2]
Solar irradiation figures are used to plan the deployment of solar power systems. [41] In many countries, the figures can be obtained from an insolation map or from insolation tables that reflect data over the prior 30–50 years. Different solar power technologies are able to use different components of the total irradiation.
The solar constant is the amount of power that the Sun deposits per unit area that is directly exposed to sunlight. The solar constant is equal to approximately 1,368 W/m 2 (watts per square meter) at a distance of one astronomical unit (AU) from the Sun (that is, at or near Earth's orbit). [99]
The constants listed here are known values of physical constants expressed in SI units; that is, physical quantities that are generally believed to be universal in nature and thus are independent of the unit system in which they are measured. Many of these are redundant, in the sense that they obey a known relationship with other physical ...
The intensity of solar irradiance including all wavelengths is the Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) and on average is the solar constant. It is equal to about 1361 W m −2 at the distance of Earth's annual-mean orbital radius of one astronomical unit and as measured at the top of the atmosphere. [42]
The astronomical unit of time is a time interval of one day (D) of 86400 seconds.The astronomical unit of mass is the mass of the Sun (S).The astronomical unit of length is that length (A) for which the Gaussian gravitational constant (k) takes the value 0.017 202 098 95 when the units of measurement are the astronomical units of length, mass and time.
Using the IAU 2015 scale, the nominal total solar irradiance ("solar constant") measured at 1 astronomical unit (1361 W/m 2) corresponds to an apparent bolometric magnitude of the Sun of m bol,⊙ = −26.832.
The air mass coefficient can be used to help characterize the solar spectrum after solar radiation has traveled through the atmosphere. The air mass coefficient is commonly used to characterize the performance of solar cells under standardized conditions, and is often referred to using the syntax "AM" followed by a number.