Not the time gap is important. 9am and 3pm should be at equal distance, just in opposite direction.
The sensitivity doesn't matter, as this would be about measuring relative values. If both values are dropped by a factor of 10(probably the sensitivity of the cheap panel), the result would be the same.
> but as we know if the sun is truly 1au it would be much harder to measure any difference via energy delivered.
That's the point of the experiment. If you measure a factor of roughly ½ between the two you can say it's flat. If you don't measure a huge difference between the two you can say with certainty that the sun is far away.
That video doesn't really fit to what we observe everyday. When I looked at the sun rising or setting I never saw any of this. If that was really the sun getting farther away and not some effect of refraction, shouldn't it be observable every day and not just on some random video?
Also even if this was a sign of the sun moving farther away why is it such a huge effect at sunset, but throughout the rest of the day not observable?
> However, no one observation or experiment is sufficient to provide proof to someone who is already convinced of the outcome either way.
I have learned, that not even an infinite amount of evidence and reason would be able to convince that person.
> I genuinely strive to be open minded on the topic
I hope you really are, but I learned that those who ignore all arguments and reason tend to say that as often as someone who really is open minded.