Do these people have any idea how poor efficiency will be when you're mounting perpendicular to the ideal orientation?

This is pure vibes. It makes no sense. And it's really tacky too. Cheap panels hanging off balconies sounds horrible for the aesthetics of an area.

You would hope someone creates panels with cells arranged at an angle so that they point more towards the source. But by then the city will be full of the trashiest junk panels and people only care about the cheapest option anyway.