It is shown that the observed properties of the solar irradiance dips can be easily explained by the conventional thermal blocking model of sunspots extended to include time dependence. The model does not rule out energy transfer between spots and faculae, but it does not require it. The analysis indicates that the heat blocked in proportion to a spot's area and contrast is stored very efficiently in the slightly increased thermal and potential energy of the solar convection zone. The radiative flux blocked during high sunspot activity periods is only radiated away over many subsequent 11-year cycles. It is pointed out that this efficient storage implies a contribution to variation of the solar luminosity and irradiance over the 1-year cycle, at an amplitude that can be computed from the known variation of sunspot areas.
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Foukal et al. (1983) studied this question.