[Dave K.]

Something else I overlooked was that (most) PV elements are P-N junctions so they behave like diodes. If an individual cell were shaded, the darkened cell would become reverse biased and pass the array's current through it, which may have long term degradation effects on the cell. Therefore, some array manufactuer's include reverse protection diodes across each cell in an array which purposefully carries the bypass current.

So what we collectively have said at this point remains valid, this is just something else to consider when combining individual PV elements as opposed to working with a larger panel.