Thanks, I do get that in series the voltages add and the amps will be the same as the lowest one's amps (I think)
The idea is to get the highest string-watts to the controller's input (where the controller sets the Vmp and the Imp is an accidental sort of number that doesn't matter here--nothing to do with panel amps)
Then you want the controller output watts to be high so when divided by battery voltage you get the most charging amps.
OK back to the string and how to get the most watts from it. We want all the voltages to be as high as possible to add to the most, and the lowest amps to be as high as possible.
When you tilt back the panel from "aimed" it will lose voltage and amps. You lose more amps in proportion to the loss of voltage when you tilt it up and down. The difference between flat and tilted depends on how high the sun ever gets, so it is greatest in the winter like now.
Meanwhile the shaded panel has lost amps but I am unclear on how much voltage it loses. Also the shading has to be all in the diode sections to leave any section clear, so the shape of the shade matters.
So if the panel in front is shading up into the next diode section it is killing that section too, but if lowered a bit, it might leave the whole section clear?
The contest I was asking about is whether the lowered panel in front would lose amps or volts more than what you gain from un-shading the back panel. (I suppose the loss of amps doesn't matter because they are already lost from being equal to the shaded one's amps?)
Then there is the whole math thing of whether the string watts will be higher by just disconnecting the lower amp panel so the amps of the remaining panels now fully count towards the string wattage. I think that would turn on how many remaining panels there are, since most of the watts come from the voltage product in the VA.