e-bay solar panel completed pictures

[Jeff7]

Problem there is, you do still get condensation at night, and then I'd start to get worried about corrosion and other weathering effects. The tabs or solder might begin to oxidize - and you might get mildew formation, or other unwelcome lifeforms making a home on the cells.

[Jeff7]

Nice setup there, fishfarm; geez, 40 pounds of solar cells. Yeah, that must have been tedious as hell. I just put together an LED growlight - I made the LED power boosters myself, they convert 3-12VDC to 35VDC, so it runs the LED's more efficiently. And it reduces the risk of thermal runaway - if you run a LOT of LED's in parallel, and one set starts to absorb more current than another, its resistance drops. More current flows, and you get thermal runaway until the things fry themselves.

Anyway, the entire array, just a small one for now, has 148 LEDs. That felt tedious. I can only imagine how it must have been going through those hundreds upon hundreds of cells.

One big concern I have with your setup - no shielding from blunt impacts. You mentioned a hurricane going through - no water, sure that's good. But what about flying debris, or hail?

I'm working on a small prototype using aluminum backing (heatsinking), and a polycarbonate front that's UV treated. I might consider some of that vinyl stuff though as well; nothing like extra insurance against corrosion.

My big problem with my method is going to be cost. I'd love to just see a professional panel, and do a little reverse engineering.

[pyrocasto]

The good thing abou the vinyl is if one cell breaks(my big paranoia) you can melt around that cell with the soldering iron. I might use the vinyl to replace my inset boards on my panels.

[fishfarm]

I tried to break the project into manageable chunks. My goal during construction was to average 3 strings a day (weekdays), or 15 a week; enough for one 4'x8' sheet. Then I would build the 4'x8' frame, assemble the unit and mount it on the weekend. Once I got everything set up and my technique down, it took about 40 minutes per string and 5 or 6 hours per weekend.

You are correct about little or no impact resistance. I have only seen hail here once in seven years and it was about the size of a grain of rice. That doesn't mean it won't happen of course. I don't know if anything can really protect against flying debris during a hurricane or even a severe storm, but I did lay them flat on the ground and the area they are in is fairly open. If a string or two is damaged, it's not too hard to repair or replace them.

[fishfarm]

I have done a repair. I used an Xacto to cut out the damaged cell, used the soldering gun to remove the vinyl from the ribbons, desoldered them and installed another cell with overlapping vinyl.