Irradiance

Irradiance of a surface, denoted Ee ("e" for "energetic", to avoid confusion with

photometric quantities), is defined as[2]

E e = ? F e ? A , {\displaystyle E_{\mathrm {e} }={\frac {\partial \Phi

_{\mathrm {e} }}{\partial A}},} E_{{\mathrm {e}}}={\frac {\partial \Phi _{{\mathrm
{e}}}}{\partial A}},

where

? is the partial derivative symbol;

Fe is the radiant flux received;
A is the area.

If we want to talk about the radiant flux emitted by a surface, we speak of radiant
exitance.
Spectral irradiance

Spectral irradiance in frequency of a surface, denoted Ee,?, is defined as[2]

E e , ? = ? E e ? ? , {\displaystyle E_{\mathrm {e} ,\nu }={\frac {\partial

E_{\mathrm {e} }}{\partial \nu }},} E_{{{\mathrm {e}},\nu }}={\frac {\partial
E_{{\mathrm {e}}}}{\partial \nu }},

where ? is the frequency.

Spectral irradiance in wavelength of a surface, denoted Ee,?, is defined as[2]

E e , ? = ? E e ? ? , {\displaystyle E_{\mathrm {e} ,\lambda }={\frac {\partial

E_{\mathrm {e} }}{\partial \lambda }},} E_{{{\mathrm {e}},\lambda }}={\frac
{\partial E_{{\mathrm {e}}}}{\partial \lambda }},

where ? is the wavelength.

Property

Irradiance of a surface is also, according to the definition of radiant flux, equal

to the time-average of the component of the Poynting vector perpendicular to the
surface:

E e = ? | S | ? cos ? a , {\displaystyle E_{\mathrm {e} }=\langle |\mathbf {S}

|\rangle \cos \alpha ,} E_{{\mathrm {e}}}=\langle |{\mathbf {S}}|\rangle \cos
\alpha ,

where

? � ? is the time-average;
S is the Poynting vector;
a is the angle between a unit vector normal to the surface and S.

For a propagating sinusoidal linearly polarized electromagnetic plane wave, the

Poynting vector always points to the direction of propagation while oscillating in
magnitude. The irradiance of a surface is then given by[3]

E e = n 2 � 0 c E m 2 cos ? a = n e 0 c 2 E m 2 cos ? a , {\displaystyle

E_{\mathrm {e} }={\frac {n}{2\mu _{0}\mathrm {c} }}E_{\mathrm {m} }^{2}\cos \alpha
={\frac {n\varepsilon _{0}\mathrm {c} }{2}}E_{\mathrm {m} }^{2}\cos \alpha ,}
E_{{\mathrm {e}}}={\frac {n}{2\mu _{0}{\mathrm {c}}}}E_{{\mathrm {m}}}^{2}\cos
\alpha ={\frac {n\varepsilon _{0}{\mathrm {c}}}{2}}E_{{\mathrm {m}}}^{2}\cos \alpha
,

where

Em is the amplitude of the wave's electric field;

n is the refractive index of the medium of propagation;
c is the speed of light in vacuum;
�0 is the vacuum permeability;
e0 is the vacuum permittivity.

This formula assumes that the magnetic susceptibility is negligible, i.e. that �r �
1 where �r is the magnetic permeability of the propagation medium. This assumption
is typically valid in transparent media in the optical frequency range.
Solar energy

The global irradiance on a horizontal surface on Earth consists of the direct

irradiance Ee,dir and diffuse irradiance Ee,diff. On a tilted plane, there is
another irradiance component, Ee,refl, which is the component that is reflected
from the ground. The average ground reflection is about 20% of the global
irradiance. Hence, the irradiance Ee on a tilted plane consists of three
components:[4]

E e = E e , d i r + E e , d i f f + E e , r e f l . {\displaystyle E_{\mathrm
{e} }=E_{\mathrm {e} ,\mathrm {dir} }+E_{\mathrm {e} ,\mathrm {diff} }+E_{\mathrm
{e} ,\mathrm {refl} }.} E_{{\mathrm {e}}}=E_{{{\mathrm {e}},{\mathrm {dir}}}}
+E_{{{\mathrm {e}},{\mathrm {diff}}}}+E_{{{\mathrm {e}},{\mathrm {refl}}}}.

The integral of solar irradiance over a time period is called "solar exposure" or
"insolation".[4][5]