I dont clip off any fan leaves. You can do what You want but every fan leaf is like a solar panel for your plant. Some people do it later on in the flowering stage, but I just let them go, I cut most of my lower growth off anyway to let the upper stuff grow better. If you want to get some light to the lower stuff start pulling those tops over, LST them. That will open up the bottom to some good light. I just dont worry too much about lower stuff, the upper part of the plant, the top and the buds directly below will be your best and heaviest anyway.