solar constant
1
6.4
- noun
- /ˈsoʊlər ˈkɒnstənt/
- Specialized
:
constante solar
- Makers of solar panels rely on the solar constant to design efficient energy systems.
Examples
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The changes in the solar constant are sufficient to change ocean temperatures and alter the Earth's climate.
Blog text (29) -
Accurate knowledge of the solar constant is necessary to understand the terrestrial atmosphere, for to interpret our atmosphere completely we must know all the ways in which it can gain and lose energy.
Academic text (1991) -
You need to know the solar constant for that planet.
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For all these reasons, less solar energy is available to us than the solar constant itself.
Academic text (1991) -
This quantity is called the solar constant.
Academic text (1991) -
Makers of solar energy systems for heating and generating electricity start their calculations with the solar constant.
Academic text (1991) -
One interesting aim astronomers have is to determine if there are long-term changes in the solar constant, perhaps arising from changes in the luminosity of the Sun.
Academic text (1991) -
The Solar Maximum Mission instrument showed a slight but steady decline between 1980 and 1985, but the solar constant there recovered as the Sun went toward the maximum of the sunspot cycle.
Academic text (1991) -
The effect of small changes in the solar constant caused by variations in the sunspot cycles and small increases in downward long-wave infrared flux due to a 100 ppm increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration on surface temperature is considered in detail.
Blog text (29) -
The solar constant represents the average amount of solar energy received at the Earth's atmosphere.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly compositional: 'solar' means related to the sun and 'constant' means a fixed value, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a fixed numerical value associated with the sun. Although the full technical definition (radiation per unit area at the top of the atmosphere) is specialized, the general idea of a sun-related fixed measurement is transparently derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
The term solar constant combines solar (the Sun) and constant (a steady amount). Imagine a steady flow of sunlight falling on one square meter just outside Earth's atmosphere when the Earth is at its 'usual distance' from the Sun. That's why the phrase means the 'fixed amount' of solar energy the Earth receives.