Protective coating for PV cells

[PaulM2]

Forget the moiture problem, just seal up the panels in a low humidity area (my living room has been 35-43% lately) But before sealing them spray the front and back with "Silcone conformal coating" the type used on PCBs. It stops corrosion ,mold and any moisture getting to the cells. Some condensation inside the panel won't hurt anything and will go away quickly after the sun gets on it. I put two panels out to test. At -4c (30F) one had some condensation. It was sealed in my basement in damp conditions.The other panel was sealed in my livingroom and had no condensation. I haven't sprayed coating on these but I will on the next ones.

[somemathguy]

Does anyone know the properties of silcone conformal coating? Will it degrade with exposure to UV, evaporate, etc?

[somemathguy]

Seems that this stuff is made for sealing circuit boards in moist conditions such as marine applications. Unfortunately, some brands I found for sale on the 'net have a UV indicator for quality control, which seems to indicate that it will degrade with exposure to UV rays.

http://www.mgchemicals.com/products/422a.html

[Jeff7]

That UV thing could also be to indicate cracks - they might show up brighter. Maybe?

Some questions about this stuff - about how much of the can was used up to seal both of those panels? With cheap in mind, I saw some spray-on adhesive in the hardware department - might this sort of thing work too?

[picmacmillan]

i had been talking about using some dessecant silicon....i now have some and i am going to experiment with it...i believe it will work...i worry that any petrolium byproduct will suffer changes of state due to extreme hot/cold temperatures....but that's just my 2 cents worth...just a thought...pickster