Supposedly they will grow in anything from full sun to shade (not sure about nut production in shade, though). These plants are amazingly tolerant of really radical root trimming. I had one that had been neglected in my shade house. It was in a 1 gal pot and it had two large roots, one about 1 1/2-2" diameter and one about 1", growing out of the pot & into the soil. Since virtually all of the roots were outside of the pot, I didn't expect the plant to survive. I hacked off the two large roots & cut off nearly all of the green top growth and put it aside. It started to sprout out again so I planted it out a couple of months ago (in a wet spot in full sun) and it is growing nicely. These are tough plants.
I have a P. insignis I have planted in a higher, drier location (also full sun) that seems to also be doing fine. (That one did not have any radical trimming involved.)
John