Solar in winter.

[team karst]

We have 4 panels arranged in 2x2 on a aft mounted support. Pretty typical for a cat.
The issue is day after day moving South in the winter. ie; panel shading by the boom snd mast.
We have 2x MPPT. Is it better to wire the panels Port pair and STB pair, or AFT pair and FWD pair?

[GreenWave]

What about paring the opposite corners?

[rslifkin]

It depends on how the panels are angled. If they're in parallel, shading is unlikely to produce significantly different results in with them paired either way. But if the panels are arched a bit and not flat, pairing port and starboard is likely to be best, as that'll keep the panels on each controller angled most similarly.

[noelex 77]

The idea is too match panels that are experiencing similar conditions. For example, with two panels in full sun and two with shadows or in shade it is better to wire the two panels in sun together and use a seperate controller for the two panels in shade.

Generally, if not using one controller per panel they are most often configured such that the port panels are wired together in parallel and this is fed to one controller. Likewise with the starboard panels.

If in doubt observing how the shadows typically fall on your boat should help.