(sorry, some of this is from more theory than actual wiring experience. Still working on making a panel myself, as well as trying to figure what the heck is wrong with my Siemens Panels. And, of course, I am always willing to put my foot in my mouth).
Assuming you are talking silicone based cells, you should have something like 30+ individual cells, each putting out approx 1/2 volt.
I think the voltage is a rather resilient feature of the solar panels...
I.E. If you have a fragment of a cell, it will put out the same 1/2 volt that the other intact cells put out.
The fragment of a cell, however, will put out fewer amps than an intact cell.
If you put the fragment of a cell in series with intact cells, you should have relatively good voltage, but the amps of the entire panel will be depressed (based on the lowest common amperage in the series).
Many cells have two wires along the top. However, this is just to confuse you (I think).
I believe that the individual cells are connected as follows:
(terminated) Top -> bottom (terminated)
(terminated) Top -> bottom (terminated)
(terminated) Top -> bottom (terminated)
I.E. Any single conductor only goes from the top of Cell A to the bottom of Cell B (and nowhere else).
After you string everything together, the potential of the entire panel is measured from the top of the first cell to the bottom of the last cell.
Two fragments could potentially be connected in parallel...
(Top Fragment A -> Top Fragment B) AND (Bottom Fragment A -> Bottom Fragment B)
So... look at your output. This is more or less what I would expect:
Normal Volts - Normal Amps - This is what you want.
Low Volts - High Amps - Somewhere (near middle) you have parallel rather than serial circuit.
Low Volts - Normal Amps - Skipping cells, or parallel with fragmented cells.
Low Volts - Low Amps - Skipping Cells in the circuit (and or fragments).
No Volts - No Amps - Somewhere Disconnected
Good Luck,
P.S. You can certainly cut down on your power output if you significantly obscure all of the cells such as using Low-E glass, using the panel inside the house, or something similar.