FYI Basic Solar Kit from Costco

pianotuna wrote:
It appears that polycrystalline may work better in partial shade than monocrystalline.

I would rather say "in low light" - when the entire panel is illuminated but not very well.

OTH, when it's a dense shade on a part of the panel area (like tree, building etc), and the rest of the panel is in bright sun, then it's a matter if number of diodes per panel and whether the panels are in series or parallel. The losses caused by insufficient number of diodes and series wiring are so huge that it doesn't matter anymore whether it's poly or mono.