Ok I just recieved my first pound of cells off of ebay - and I have a couple questions:
1. Some of the cells on the back side where the soldering pads are - are a little messed up - like the photo below. My question is - how many of these pads are actually needed? If the cell is like the one in the pic two of the three on one side are ok - and all 3 on the other side are ok. Is this ok to only use 2 connections on one side and 3 on the other? Is this going to affect the rest of the panel if a cell like this is used?
I think there may have been a couple more cells in the pound that the backs were actually more messed up than this. For example - only one or two pads on each side were useable.
Question # 2:
I have searched the board - and I probably have not searched enough (Lord knows I tried) I am looking for a schematic or something to show me how to configure the cells and use a 'bypass diode' to make the panel "Shade Tollerent". I have heard others make mention of the diodes - but I have yet to see a diagram or schematic to show exactly how it's done?
