Hobo Erotica posted:

AS for the energy per m^2, I appreciate the clarification, but I feel it's semantics. I like the example I use, because it's easy for people to understand. It's the heat we want in Solar Thermal, that's where the energy for our electricity comes from, and the point is that there's a lot more in a small area than we might think from our sunbathing experience. And I think 'melt steel' is a more powerful illustration than 'boil coffee'. I do accept this could be lazy science writing though, and am curious to hear more.

I mean if energy is 'the potential to do work', then I think the way I describe it is basically right. There is enough in that amount of sunlight to do that amount of work. Ideally I link it to the video I posted (or a more professional one with James May for example, but I like the first one because it's just a guy in the backyard).