Direct Sunlight, Equivalent Wattage?

[fifefish]

what is the equivalent wattage of direct sunlight on a clear day?

 

[three-fingers]

Using what type of bulb...?

 

[fifefish]

Using our Local Star the Sun

 

[TylerFerretLord]

The sun doesn't run on electricity, and thus does not have a wattage.

What three-fingers meant was that different kinds of bulbs put out different amounts of light at the same wattage. You need to specify the type of bulb before your question can be answered.

 

[three-fingers]

Yes...this is an awkward question.

Wattage is a term used to define electrical power, especially in fish keeping when referring to lighting. You could ask what is the power of sunlight on a clear day, and a quick wikisurf reveals this to be around 120 watts per meter squared, but that includes UV and infa-red.

But that is just the power of the light, not the power used to generate it. The sun generates much more than that, and uses nuclear fusion to do so...

To recreate this you would have to take into account the efficiency of a light source, and which direction the light is going in.

For example, I think regular light bulbs are only like 2% efficient. Then add to that fact that the light would disperse in every direction, you would need reflectors. But the reflectors would introduce lots re-strike and other factors too.

 

[Spiceweasel69]

The sun doesn't run on electricity, and thus does not have a wattage.

What three-fingers meant was that different kinds of bulbs put out different amounts of light at the same wattage. You need to specify the type of bulb before your question can be answered.

Wattage isnt solely for electricity. The Watt is an SI unit of Power. The Sun gives us power in the emission of rays (or packets of energy) in the electromagnetic spectrum. The amount of energy the earth recieves is measured in watts per square meter. What is needed is to break down the total 120 watts into what is visible. Not 100% sure how its broken down but it can easily be done im sure. I would guess that a standard efficiency bulb at 100 watts would generate the same visible (usable light) per m2 at 1m from source as the sun striking the surface of the earth, bearing in mind that a 100w bulb would emit about 75 watts in thermal energy and only 25W in light , if that.