(September 11, 2021 at 12:33 pm)Spongebob Wrote:(September 11, 2021 at 12:31 pm)polymath257 Wrote: Because of efficiency and the fact that the sun isn't always up (so we don't get the full solar constant all the time), it would be more than that. But it is still a LOT less than the total area of even one medium sized state.
Um, the sun is always "up" somewhere on earth.
Yes, of course. But you also need to consider things like the fact that the full solar constant is for surfaces perpendicular to the direction of the sun and ignores atmospheric absorption.
Also, this was specifically for the power of the US, so I limited it to just the US.