And yes, I know the shading isn’t ideal…
I’d be surprised if this installation generated anything useful at all, since shading any part of a single panel essentially disables the whole panel, which in turn, especially in small setups like this, affects the whole array of panels.
Newer panels usually don’t have that big of an issue with partial shading, but it definetly isn’t optimal.
Thats not true
It’s fascinating to see the difference in reaction in the post here, vs. the post it links to where they’re saying exactly the same thing that you and I are saying.
No idea what the difference might be.
Yea bypass diodes help a little, (and they have existed for a very long time, nothing to do with “modern” panels), but any shade effectively shuts down the entire panel, and unless the charge controller is happy with much lower voltage, the whole series string will stop producing.
Prevents a shaded panel from affecting the entire string. Pretty standard on Australian residential setups these days.
This is a horrible setup - even minor shade can disproportinally affect the power output.
They should get rid of the plants growing around the panels
They should, yes. But modern panels have bypass diodes that somewhat mitigate partial shading.