The sun is brightest at perihelion, which occurs around winter solstice when the orientation of the array is such that the sun's rays arrive at 23.5° off of normal incidence. The worst-case illumination is at summer solstice where the 23.5° misorientation is accompanied by aphelion where the intensity of sunlight is 0.967° average. However, the solar array temperature is also down, being 36.5°C rather than 46.0°C as at the spring and autumn equinoxes. The net effect of these variations, as shown in figure A-5, is a lower power output during the summer months than during the winter months. Eclipses by the earth, illustrated in figure A-5 by the close-spaced vertical lines, will cause total shutdowns daily around local midnight for about six weeks in the spring and fall. The maximum duration is about 75 minutes.
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