I never read the inital info that you got MD,
but it seems to me that if one is in a temperate climate such as the equator(sp?) you wouldnt need reverse=blocking diodes. Since at optimum operating tempuratures the soler panels would not-in fact try to heat themselves, at night. If the mean-temperatre was optimized then the solar panels would infact transfer power on a positive-bias to the battery bank. I beilieve this is a concern in the solar-car races Down Under(astraillia(sp?)....
They must cover the the silicon solar cells at night, since in warm enough climate's, the panels can charge the batterys at night, with star-light, even with diodes?. but i believe in outer-space you(or most of the group) are correct. So basically at night in cold temperate climates one does need blocking diodes. The question becomes- is it actually usefull to cover the solar array with a tarp, unless you consider thermodynamics.
Just a thought
JW
