SolarFlux

Powering the Solar System.

What is Solar Flux?

Solar flux is the amount of sunlight available at a given distance from the Sun. We can calculate this by applying the inverse square law to the solar constant (1,370W/m2 at a distance of 1 Astronomical Unit). Try it out for yourself!

Choose a planet

{{planet.name}}

1

()2

Distance from the Sun in AU

=

{{ (flux.distance) ? 1370 * 1/(flux.distance*flux.distance) : 1370 | number}}W/m2

Solar intensity

Distance at True Anomaly

The problem is, planets move around in eliptical orbits. This means that they don't just stand still, nor do they remain at a constant distance from the Sun, as you can see from the following radar chart of distance from Sun at true anomaly (or, how far something is into it's orbit.)

Solar intensity at True Anomaly

By extrapolating from the distances as a function of true anomaly in the previous section, we are now able to plug these values in to the inverse square law, allowing us to calculate the solar flux at any point in the native year on each of these three planets.

Anomaly at Time

Although we have shown the distance of each planet at different positions in their orbits, we are yet to know what position they are in at a given point in time. We can derive the current position of each planet in its orbit, and thus its distance and solar flux, using Kepler's laws. Try it out!

Set Date

{{planet.R | number}} AU

{{planet.flux | number}}W/m2
{{planet.Phi | number:2}}°

Diurnal Cycles

The final piece of the puzzle is to account for the rotation of our planets. Fixed solar panels at a specific longitudinal point on a planet will only receive maximum solar flux under perfect conditions at true local midday in the diurnal cycle as signified by the peaks in our chart.

Contact Ares Astronautics

Feel free to contact us to provide some feedback, give us some suggestions, or even to just say hello!

dean@aresastro.com