How to connect 16 solar panels for best performance

[Robert1234]

JPM, simply stated does not necessarily equate to simple minded.

I suspect our backgrounds are much closer than you might think. I'm guessing you are a ChE by education. My grad and post grad were also ChE albeit I've moved on and the chemical design itself is my forte now (although I have certainly designed and installed my shared of heat exchangers).

Our first reactions to this problem are just simply different. 3+ decades in custom manufacturing means I have learned to "see" optimal design solutions with my gut using the equipment I have for speed of implentation and flexibility. Your experience may well necessitate much more rigorous design constraints due to the world you have lived in. Both of us have been successful at what we do, and I'm sure we have both made "the man" a boat load of money.

Peace.

[LucMan]

3 (equal) groups in parallel will give you the best performance. Piping as in your 2nd picture will raise the pressure head, reducing flow rate through the panels.
If you could find the original specs they would tell you what the maximum amount of panels are per circuit for a given flow rate.

[henningdalgaard]

Thanks for all the input.
Some people have told me that 3 groups in parallel makes no difference because running all panels in one group is also parallel and shouldn't be a problem when the manifolds are 40mm (only slightly smaller than my 50mm piping).

Also, 3 groups requires al lot more piping and thus possible leaks. So is it really worth having 3 parallel groups compared to one parallel group?