Are my Cracked Panels beyond Repair?

st4rgut

While moving some solar panels without frames I accidentally cracked them. The whole panel now has micro fractures. At first I thought the panel would still function, but I found that the cracked panels barely produce any voltage. I have four cracked panels now and all have the same issue. Could anyone tell me what the most likely issue is? I thought the glass on the panel is cosmetic and it would work fine as long as the wires underneath are undisturbed. It gets dewy in the morning, so perhaps water damage is an issue? I'm not sure if I could fix it or not. Any pointers would be nice. 

mcgivor

The tempered glass is structural as well as protective, encapsulating the cells between it and the backing material, once compromised the panel will eventually fail, if not immediately, pretty much useless in that condition.

st4rgut

I watched this video: 

The guy had cracked panels with damaged wires and some punctured cells and they still produced close to max voltage. I am thinking the issue is my fractures are reflecting all the sunlight. So in theory, replacing the glass should repair the panel since there are no other visible defects. I will try this with one cell and let yall know the results.

mike95490

The glass is hot melt glued to the cells and wires underneath it.  Not going to be an easy change without everything that isnt broken now, breaking even more.   They are pretty much scrap.  Sorry

Photowhit

st4rgut said:

The guy had cracked panels with damaged wires and some punctured cells and they still produced close to max voltage.

I bought a pallet of solar panels some of which had been broken, with the understanding I would dispose of the broken panels properly.

I actually gave the broken panels away arranged through this forum. 

First understand that voltage will just tell you if the wiring has continuity. Panels will produce voltage under very minimal lighting. 

The guy I gave the panels to, used an exterior epoxy to fill and bond the glass and got some usable life out of the panels but at some considerable expense. There are epoxies sold for this use. Over time they will have water intrusion and likely fail. He got 7 of 9 working somewhat. But panels are pretty cheap and the epoxy expensive...

Your panels look like unframed laminates, I wouldn't invest the money in them.

Solar Guppy

Good news is you can buy used panels for ~35 dollars for a 270 watt panel, used PV is being replaced at some large solar farms. Basically you will pay more for shipping than the panels themselves, many online sellers have them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-270W-72-Cell-Polycrystalline-Solar-Panels-270-Watts-Vinyl-Cracking/284022133393?

I built a small 12 panel  array last year all in for $1K usd including used Enphase M215's, maxed out the inverters every day ~2.7kw

Tecnodave

been been there, done that, they may work but will never be reliable and not worth even messing with. The whole thing is bonded together for waterproofness, it’s impossible to get the glass off the cells.....

I installed these Arco SM-50,s on a mountain top radio repeater in 1965-1967 time span, most of the array were crushed when tons of ice fell from the towers, these survived and still work at full power to this day, however now reliable?  Small cracks at several cells, kept for history, I don’t leave them out in the rain....

Count the cells......these are very rare prototype panels built by ARCO Solar in the very early days.....33 cell panels “self regulating” panels for use without a charge controller.  

Who was that that said a newbie.......

Ralph Day

What might the cost for those mid 1960's panels have been per watt?  Space program prices?

Tecnodave

We paid $950 for each panel....$19.00/watt. And that was an inside deal.....we provided their communications, both ARCO Solar and ARCO’s refinery at Long Beach Terminal, I was their front line tech.......oops I may have just violated my NDA, non disclosure agreement......well it’s over 50 years old they probably can’t find it.....