Thanks BPSolar!

[Volvo farmer]

I was out cleaning the solar panels this fall and noticed something unusual.

So I went around back and saw this.

Power seemed to be OK but I got out the meter and checked anyway. Voc 43.5, Isc 4.59, all within specs.

This panel is less than three years old so I called BP and asked if it fell under a "defects in material and workmanship" clause. Yup, it did! So today, sitting on my porch is a brand new 175B. $1000 MSRP! All I have to do is peel the label off the defective panel and send it back. Who knows how long it will still make power? At least I have a backup if it ever quits. Big props to BP customer service. They did everything right, even sent the thing UPS 3 day, which I didn't even ask for.

Contrast this to my neighbors who have Solec panels. Sanyo now owns the company. One of their panels went completely dead within the warranty period and Sanyo basically told them to fix it themselves, or pay freight both ways to have them fix it. No replacement panel offered. So I ended up soldering that one up for them. If you're shopping for panels, I'd take BP over Sanyo any day, just for the great warranty service I received.

Now what am I going to do with this extra .8KW day?







 

[AbyssUnderground]

Now what am I going to do with this extra .8KW day?

You couldn't give it to me could you? :-)

[kurt]

how does a 175w solar panel produce .8 kilowatt (KW) i think maybe you meant .8 kilowatt hour (KWH) per day. big difference. we need to keep things accurate because things like this trip up the newbies terribly.    

[Volvo farmer]

I did accidentally leave out the hour,thanks for catching that. I'd go back and edit it but..... :-)

[ghurd]

Cool!

If / when it quits, might be able to operate on it too?  Bypass the yucky spot.

Is it tedlar backed?

Gotta love name brand stuff.

G-

[Volvo farmer]

I don't know what Tedlar is. It's got white rubbery stuff on the back. That whole wide bar seems to be the conducting ribbon. The burn spot is not even 50% of the ribbon area, I'm sure it could be fixed if the burn spot was to grow large enough.

I can't figure out what caused it though, there's no electrical junction at that spot, just seemed to randomly burn a hole in the back of the panel.

 

[ghurd]

Tedlar: White Plastic Tape?

I haven't seen any of the newer BPs.  The older ones had the contact paper stuff over what I'd call something between silicone and fiberglass resin.  Looked like they placed the cells on the front glass, poured the goo over them, then covered with contact paper.  Several brands did it that way.

Repair (attemps) wasn't the worst job, but I wouldn't try until it quits.

Maybe the flux wasn't washed properly, so its more corrosion than a burn?

G-