BFL13 wrote:
You still get the wiring advantage of a higher panel to controller voltage by being able to use thinner wire, but that does not help me with my already fat wire in that path.
I just can't see the point except for the wiring thing. If your wires are fat enough, why not just leave the panels in parallel in case there is some shading, since you (at least I ) get the same amps either way, even in "low light" ?
One correction to what you said - ".... since you (at least I) get the same ENERGY either way ...".
With your fat wires ... IMHO stay in parallel with your panels so that you get redundancy in energy output - in that if one panel gets shaded you still get the full, or nearly the full, energy output from the remaining array of panels that they are capable of. With all your panels in series, the energy capability of the array can be drastically reduced.
I do not have solar on our RV ... I just applied electrical principles to come to that conclusion. The Solar Magic power optimizer for solar panels in series was supposed to help get around this limitation of what a shaded panel in a series array could do to the rest of the array's output capability, but I don't believe it lived up to it's claims.
