Buddy in Calif put a solar panel (about 10x20 ft) on his property in the country, says it pays for about half his electricity for the year (he has no air conditioning and no tv) in checking his useage and adding to the grid which shows on his bill the thing really only works good about the three hours of the suns apex between 11-2 and then for April to Oct.
https://gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/solar_basics/net_metering.php
We had two liberals put in similar but bigger solar systems in our cul de sac.
The systems were installed on west facing roofs, which meant one system only got sunlight from about high noon to about 3 pm due to the fact that two big Native Oaks were to the west of the roof.
As the oaks grew, the solar time went to basically nothing and then the roof started leaking where the solar was put in.
The gullible liberal was going to put in another solar system, and his daughter asked a construction project manager friend of hers to look at it. He told the homeowner the only way solar would work would be to cut down the oaks and get a big fine for doing so. He had the old solar system removed and a new roof put in on the west side.
Another liberal at the opposite end of our cul de sac put in a solar system on his west side. The only problem were 4 good size redwoods that were on the west side of the house. In a couple of wet years, the trees grew about 20’ taller and wider. Their system got a little sunlight at high noon for a couple of ours. The new home owner had the panels removed and kept the redwood trees.
Across the street and NE of that home, a super rich/elite liberal put in a massive solar system, about 100 yards long and 30 yards wide. There are no trees, just hills and homes blocking the sun after about 2 pm. They installed what engineers call a hidden gas generator system to kick in after the sun gets blocked or on rainy days or cloudy days.
The only solar system that seems to work is a passive solar panel on a neighbor’s swimming pool. It has to be replaced about every 6-7 years. We have been here 40+ years, and they will be installing #6 panel after the rainy season.
From what I've read, the increase in power is much more than what it takes to do the tracking. Otherwise, manually adjust the panels at least four times a year to optimize the most direct rays.