Question

Amount of energy received at the top of earths atmosphere on a surface oriented perpendicular to the sun's rays

Answer 1

Earth receives about 1/2,000,000,000 of the Sun's radiant energy production. The average amount of solar radiation reaching Earth's orbit (top of the atmosphere) and falling on a flat surface perpendicular to the Sun's rays at that distance is about 2 calories per square centimeter per minute.