Solar Panel Bypass Diode
Should I use diodes in series, parallel, or not at all when connecting Solar Panels directly to a DC motor?
I think I should use schottky diodes in some way in this circuit but I'm not sure. I will not be charging a battery or capacitor. I have tested this without diodes and my motor runs until some of the cells are shaded and I am thinking that the schottky diode may help me bypass the shaded cells but I am not sure. Please help
I assume you are talking about a system in which multiple Solar Cells are connected in parallel and you are worried that the shaded cells are bleeding current from the unshaded cells? I don't think solar cells would do that.
Anyway, a diode will have a 0.5 to 0.7 Volt drop across it (when forward biased), so if the output of your cells is low (less than 2V, your diode will really cut down on the voltage to your motor).
If you cells are banked to produce higher voltage, then maybe you can afford to lose the 0.5V.
You could try one diode at the +V output of each bank of solar cells. All the -ve terminals would form a common ground.
Again, I doubt that it would do anything, but no harm in trying.