It was e-waste the moment it was made, its not your fault.

Im not clear on what the network is used for

My front yard is full of pumpkin vines rn

Ok doomer

Sure, if you own a river

Yea bypass diodes help a little, (and they have existed for a very long time, nothing to do with “modern” panels), but any shade effectively shuts down the entire panel, and unless the charge controller is happy with much lower voltage, the whole series string will stop producing.

Thats not true