Interesting, so Mars' surface level insolation is similar to Earth's surface-level insolation, due to having less atmosphere? That makes solar power - and the Sabatier process - seem more feasible that I initially thought. I understand that Martian orbiters do require much larger solar panels than terrestrial scientific satellites with similar sensor packages.
I was researching before posting and I think I saw something like 40% in a paper, which is much more than the naive 25% you’d get at 2au.
But for things like heating, latitude makes a big difference. I did some calculations for a fanfic I wrote, and at a moderate 30°N or so, you basically get the same insolation as Rovaniemi in Finland assuming similar atmospheres. No wonder those characters never got sunburns.
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Insolation is an extremely effective way to save energy.
But with cold bridges and such it can be a little complicated to get right.
That's insulation but insolation can also help with saving energy ;)
If you have enough insulation, all you need is insolation.
I'm guessing `insolation` turns you into a clean energy source. Can't imagine it's good for the immediate surroundings though.
Not sure about that. Plants absolutely love insolation!
Still better than immolation.
Set a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man afire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Yet my ex would rank innoculation as even worse.
Nah, insolation is fine, so long as you keep it below 1362 W/m2 or so.
Either GP poster is very, very tall (and can't breathe up there), or he's probably getting only about 300 W/m2 or so.
At that level he could be on Mars near the equator, and it’s hard to breathe there, too.
Interesting, so Mars' surface level insolation is similar to Earth's surface-level insolation, due to having less atmosphere? That makes solar power - and the Sabatier process - seem more feasible that I initially thought. I understand that Martian orbiters do require much larger solar panels than terrestrial scientific satellites with similar sensor packages.
I was researching before posting and I think I saw something like 40% in a paper, which is much more than the naive 25% you’d get at 2au.
But for things like heating, latitude makes a big difference. I did some calculations for a fanfic I wrote, and at a moderate 30°N or so, you basically get the same insolation as Rovaniemi in Finland assuming similar atmospheres. No wonder those characters never got sunburns.