[gothroach]

I do a lot with solar for work, and had a few questions immediately. Are the Renology panels what you had access to chosen for a specific purpose? Some of the panels we use for high efficiency jobs are 400+ watts at a size closer to your 200w panels than your 440w panels. Also, have you considered using any type of optimizer or per-panel MPPT? Those can have a significant impact on real-world performance in my experience, especially in cases of shading or uneven panel soiling. With high efficiency panels, panel optimizers, and series stringing you could likely get to DC charging voltages (although at paltry amperage).

[nonplus]

MPPT will cause more shading, but if the gains outweigh the losses, cool (and with only 9 panels calculating that shading will be pretty fast). My first thought was that making each panel articulate is a tough engineering problem when weight is a concern (but with smaller/more efficient panels like you suggest maybe it evens out on weight.).