permaculture

["scrooge McDuck" <declan@planetmail.net>]

Has anyone done the research on this? One of the basic inputs to any permaculture design is the angle of the Sun's maximum at summer and winter solstices.

If the earth's position is exactly level with the sun, , it should be possible to calculate the Sun's max and Min points for any site from one's latitude. Have any of you tried this?
I am hoping to get a better approach than I am taking, but let me try. All assumptions are from general knowledge and imprecise thus far. The next paragraph contains the ugly math.

/Begin dodgy math calculations

Take my location @ 53.30095 North, -6.3296 West. We know the earth wobbles by 23 degrees. Let's presume that the  sun sits exactly over the equator on each equinox. So an imaginary right angled  triangle can be constructed between the sun, my site, and a perpendicular to an imaginary line between the equator at 6.3296 West, and earth's centre. Another imaginary triangle with the same perpendicular site to equator, and the Centre of the earth has an angle at the centre of 55.30095 degrees at earth's centre and a hypotenuse of ~8000 miles, which yields the length of that perpendicular from site to Zero latitude. From This I can calculate the Opposite side length, = common side length. In my original triangle, That side over the hypotenuse (my distance from the sun) provides the angle at the sun between the equator line and my site. Subtract that from 90 degrees to get the Sun's angle on an equinox. Add/subtract 11.5 degrees for the max & Min points.

/End dodgy maths calculations.

This presumes many simplifications like the earth being spherical (which it isn't) and the exact distance to my site from the sun would have to be an approximation which could skew the results by a degree or two, but better can be done. Has this been done properly? Has anyone got the URL? 

-- 
Declan Moriarty
Sent from my Android tablet with mail.com Mail. Please excuse my brevity.