M-4 Plugs, or Chop'm Off

RJsfishin wrote:
Made easy work of the wiring, chopped off the MC-4s, and soldered them all together. Then liquid taped the soldered connection. Another coat or 2 will have the connection completely waterproof. Then a blob of Dicor over the connection, anchoring it all to the roof. I see no need for boxes

Series or parallel? You only need the box for parallel wiring.

For series you don't need a box, and neither you need to chop the connectors off or solder anything. I see the damage has been already done :), but you didn't have to. Here is what people do: Buy 50ft or 100ft MC4 extension #10 or #8 and connect to MC4 on the panels pigtails. These connectors are waterproof. You may hide it under the panel to protect from UV, though not absolutely necessary. Then run it all the way to controller, where you use the bare end or a spade terminal. You would still have to chop MC4 extension approximately in the middle, so the length of extension should be equal to double distance to controller.

Tilt... With today's panels prices it has lost popularity. Tilt makes a lot of sense for people with small portable panel that can't get enough juice, and they are usually getting an added bonus with some tracking, not just tilting. For permanently roof-mounted panels - get more panels and forget about it.