This has been exactly my strategy. My first setup had two leafs of 8 panels each, tracking both azimuth and elevation. It was fragile, finicky, required a lot of active components and ultimately cost more per Watt that it put out than if I had simply laid the panels flat. Which is exactly what I did with my current installation (16x265 and 26x365). Another advantage of panels that are flat is that they are much less prone to being lifted up by the wind, you can mount them flush and the wind barely has any grip on them. They also do not shade each other at all, no matter what the angle of the sun.
Double axis tracking systems when they work are very pretty and technically satisfying, but ultimately those are not the right criteria by which to evaluate a system that has to be reliable, storm proof and that has to last a decade or more after installation, preferably without any service.
The weak point in the current installation is the cables and the connectors, that is something you can't really get away from. After dismantling a few older setups and having a good look at what remains there are two things that stand out for me: Make sure all cable joints are made in the shadow of a panel and tie down your cables on the underside of the support structure so they don't flap about in the wind and are not exposed to direct sunlight. Over time they'll get killed and especially with series connected panels (the bulk of them) this can lead to spectacular results (of the wrong kind).
Double axis tracking systems when they work are very pretty and technically satisfying, but ultimately those are not the right criteria by which to evaluate a system that has to be reliable, storm proof and that has to last a decade or more after installation, preferably without any service.
The weak point in the current installation is the cables and the connectors, that is something you can't really get away from. After dismantling a few older setups and having a good look at what remains there are two things that stand out for me: Make sure all cable joints are made in the shadow of a panel and tie down your cables on the underside of the support structure so they don't flap about in the wind and are not exposed to direct sunlight. Over time they'll get killed and especially with series connected panels (the bulk of them) this can lead to spectacular results (of the wrong kind).