Noted thank you Plonkster.
I think the best move for now is to get rid of my Bottle Brush tree, and merely gather data for the rest of the year like TTT also advised. Tree will hopefully be gone in the next 2 weeks, and I will report back as to my findings.
Also monitor the angle the sun comes through during the year. You might realise that the tree is only really bothering for a month or two. For example, my issue is that I have two chimneys on my roof which has quite varying shade patterns during the year. Canât really cut off the chimneys and it would be difficult to find an optimal placement of PV panels.
At the end of the day, it might be cheaper to overspec the PV a little bit and cater more for the lower angles of the sun throughout the year.
The problem you are trying to solve isnât âmaximise my annual PV generationâ, it is actually âmaximise my minimum PV generation in 95% of all days (ignoring the lowest 5%, or something like that) as well as the amount of hours over which it is generatedâ.
At least in my mind that is the equation you are looking to optimise. It doesnât help you if you have the ability to generate all this PV, but no way to use it quick enough, or if you have to buy expensive batteries to carry you afterwards. I try to only be on PV as soon as possible in the morning, and as late as possible in the afternoon.
Here, hold my beer, let me show you ⊠
Haha! We are actually busy with construction at home and for a while the one chimney was indeed cut off! It has been built back up againâŠ
We did cut down a whole bunch of stelitzia nikolais that were massive, messing all over the place and the most egregious of crimes, shading some of my panels! That pleased me immensely.
And this is why I love my east/west strings.
The east string start making power on avg. 50min earlier than the north facing string.
The west string keep on making power on avg. 50min later than the north facing string.
I struggle a little to follow you here.
This is exactly what I am trying to do. Getting on PV as early as possible in the mornings and late afternoons. Afternoons is not really a problem, I have good sun until about 16h00.
The mornings are the issue and with this tree gone, I can have full sunlight almost 4 hours earlier on all panels and remaining so throughout the day. And I have more than enough work for the PV early in the day, especially when it comes to recharge the lead acids.
The lower angle of the sun in winter time is actually better, it then misses a large part of this tree giving me more generation time early in the day.
Batteries I require only for night time, for aircons during summer, and in winter to only heat up the geyser once in the morning.
Nah I think you got me perfectly!
I guess I do thank you, your comments are most helpful!
So referring to post 91 with pics of my Borrel Braaash⊠yesterday I had him halved in size.
This morning first light hit the panels at about 07h15, and then the blasted clouds showed up. Lots of rain predicted for the Gauteng area today and so I wasnât able to see when all panels will have full sun.
I estimate it to be around 07h45 and time will tell.
Here is some before and after pics.
HUGE difference ⊠now go and plant two big âinheemseâ trees âŠ
I know you have reasons for the panels mounted flat, but at one stage, you could address that a wee bit, with spare cash, as it is a WANT, not a NEED. 
Theyâre not ENTIRELY flat.
But I will address it some time yes. Currently I think theyâre positioned excellent but his will change when winter is here. I have 2 strings facing South (on different MPPTâs) which will be total waste then.
As they are currently:
MPPT A - my morning MPPT
2 x strings facing East
1 x string facing South
MPPT B - my afternoon MPPT
1 x string facing North
1 x string facing South
1 x string facing West
And their fairly low angles allow for sun on all them simultaneously during the entire day.
Iâm not sure I understand the South facing? East is optimal for mornings, West for afternoons, and North most efficient - Does South have a benefit I donât know about?
None that I know of lol.
But the layout of their location is challenging in terms of space but during summer the sun still does pass directly above them, and the harvesting is good due to their very low degree angle.
But come winter I will lose quite a lot of production there.
See the pic. It is almost as if the panels are flat, but they all rest on a slight ledge.
The ones indicated in green is South facing.
So come winter, I will try to move them back off the ledge and tilt them North.
I think you must start a new thread ⊠present the challenges you are facing, that we can share some ideas and perspectives so that you can better align those panels ⊠it is your first attempt, some of the folks here have done many many complicated installs ⊠10 times worse than a flat roof. 
My âfriendâ suggested that âŠ
Thing is Iâm quite sure (mathematically figured it in my head hahahaha) that I can fit and align all panels inside those 4 ledges.
But it is going to take time and effort and money to do this, which Iâm not currently up to.
The other thing is, given the recent advice I have been given on this marvelous forum, it was concluded that given my particular setup, I am at my limits in terms of solar production, the panels being actually too much for what the inverter and MPPTâs can achieve.
(did I actually just say that??? - that one can have enough solar panels, eeek!)
So repositioning them optimally will be a waste of time, effort and money until such time as my inverter and MPPTâs is upgraded.
Wat sĂȘ jy daarvan!
Hier is nie genoeg emoticons op hierdie forum nie. Hoe kry ons nog?
I like!!!
Here is the thing ⊠the MOMENT you THINK youâve got it ito solar ⊠you discover a new angle âŠ
Wag vir die winter ⊠dan praat ons weer ⊠
100% true ⊠know how long it took me to get where I am ânotâ ito solar?
First niggling started in 2008 ⊠when I wondered how does one recharge UPS batteries, using solar, because of Eskom failures?
I THOUGHT I had it all ⊠enough panels, large enough inverter ⊠lithium bank ⊠bit O NO!
I need more batteries! For I have the panels ⊠so much wastage âŠ
Start a new thread, it is free, the advice is free, cost you not a cent to get more ideas ⊠we are derailing a Victron MPII Inverter Overload thread âŠ
Yes you are correct.
I will start a new thread soon.
