Now there is one thing to consider: $E$ is measured with regards to a surface $A$ that is perpendicular to the light direction (in other words, the normal of the surface is parallel to the light direction). Therefore we project $A$ onto a plane that fulfills this requirement. If the angle between the surface normal and the light direction is $\theta$, then our projected surface $A_{proj}$ is calculated thus: $A_{proj} = \frac{A}{\cos\theta}$$$A_{proj} = \frac{A}{\cos\theta}$$