The glass/aluminum Renogy Eclipse panels appear to be the exact same panels as my "efficient" glass/aluminum Grape 100 panels (which are no longer available) (these are not the flexible ones, also made by Grape). I was really glad to see these come out as there was a "gap" period where this size panel (32 cell) was not available. These 32 cell panels are the ones I put a pair of on my C-Dory. The fact that they are around 6" shorter than the typical 36 cell panels was key in my case.
I like using an MPPT controller. One reason is that I run the panels in series pair(s) (so they are around 35 volts), and thus can have longer/thinner wire leading to the controller without any increased voltage drop (or same size wire and less voltage drop). (of course that's more valuable in a situation where you have a longer run from the panels, such as a larger RV or when setting panels away from a land-based vehicle, but even on shorter runs it can be an advantage). Also in some cases you can then avoid having a junction box. You already know this, but just to mention that typically panels can't be run in series unless you have an MPPT controller.
The conventional wisdom used to be that you should always run RV/boat type systems in parallel, because any slight shading of one panel would kill them both if in series. And of course shading is inevitable on a sailboat especially, but oftentimes also on powerboats or RV's if they have roof air, radar arches, etc.
But before I wired mine up (on the RV) I was reading of some sailors who were experimenting with series pairs (and MPPT controller) and NOT finding the shading loss to be more than the advantages. So I decided to try my RV panels (which I hooked up and used for a year before doing the boat) in series. That worked great, but of course since they are portable I don't tend to set them out in shade. So I re-visited the idea before wiring up the boat panels. To the good, boats are generally not in the shade (no trees), but still I figured there might be occasional slight shade areas due to anchor light or etc. So I set up the two panels on the ground (flat, as they would be on boat), and set my meters up to show the input. I had some big loads running so that the controller would suck up every bit of possible output from the panels. Then I set up various shade scenarios, from distinct lines close to the panels (used dead branches propped up in various ways), to distant blobs (let large trees high up start to shade the panels naturally). What I found is that partial shading of one panel only cut the input by less than half (so in other words, no affect on second panel), until there was a lot of shade on one panel *plus* some shade on the second panel. At that point the input went WAY down. But then you'd expect that no matter how they are wired. Not saying everyone should do series/parallel, or that there are no different effects of shade (I'm sure there are), but for me the results said I'd still wire in series (set up such that it can always be changed to parallel).
What I don't know is if, say, my same 200 watts would have been sufficient for my needs with a PWM controller. I have never run one. But then given how much I rely on solar I don't mind paying the extra even if it's "just" for the ability to wire in series Also, I guess since I can only run so many panels (space), I don't mind paying a bit more one time (buying MPPT controller) to milk every possible bit of juice out of them.
Main thing is I can't imagine being without solar power. I haven't plugged in or run a generator in the 1-1/2 years since I set up the solar system, except for one time I parked inside a friend's garage - and his yard was so shaded by huge trees that even the portable panel wiring would not reach the sun. That said, my power usage habits were somewhat "molded" on boats where there was much less power available, and so my needs are relatively few (but you'd have to pry my compressor refrigerator and my laptop out of my cold, dead hands nowadays
).
