Comparison of solar power

The temperature in the Sun's core reaches 15 million °C, while on the surface it's 5,500–6,000 °C [web:11]. It radiates 3.8 × 1026 watts of energy, which is equivalent to the power of a billion nuclear power plants.

For example, a pile of decaying leaves produces 2 watts, the human body at rest produces about 100 watts, and during activity 500 watts.

But interestingly, if we calculate not total energy output but specific power—when we calculate power per unit mass—we get these values (in W/kg):

Thus, a pile of decaying leaves produces 10,000 times more energy than the Sun when calculated per kilogram of mass! If the Sun were replaced with such a pile equal in mass, leaving everything else unchanged, it would have catastrophic consequences for Earth.