As I was discussing my new found interest in RE with a friend at work, he informed me that he had "a bunch" of solar panels at home in his garage. I was of course, dumbstruck... He had scavenged them a number of years ago. He and I both used to work in a factory that was Japanese-owned. One day, while cleaning up the warehouse, one of the Japanese engineers instructed him to throw away a 16 ft fiberglass boat that was covered with solar panels. He asked if he could have it, and was given permission to take it home. Well, he scavenged most of the solar panels, and threw the boat away. And the panels have been sitting in his barn ever since. Several of the engineers had kids in college, so we assume it may have been a school project, but we really don't know, but it's a distinct possibility that these panels were originally from Japan.
He brought one in for me to look at, at which point I discovered there's something wrong with it. In bright sunlight, it was registering 0 volts. It also reads infinite on the ohms scale with the test leads connected both ways. I thought maybe one of the leads had been yanked loose, so I pried the plastic cover off the back where the leads are connected, but that isn't the problem. The foil strips are still connected to the leads, and checking for continuity at the foil strips I'm still reading and open circuit.
I have absolutely no information on these panels, there are no labels or marks on this one at all. It measures 15"x42", and there are 36 individual cells. Judging from the size, I'm guessing that it is in the 50W range...? It appears that all 36 cells are connected in series. The backing plate is a sheet of 1/8 inch aluminum. The individual cells appear to be sandwiched between a white rubbery substance and a clear rubbery substance. There is no frame, nor glass. I can't see anyplace where the foil strips are broken, although they are blistered in a few spots. If you notice, in the upper right corner, I started trying to separate "sandwich" from the aluminum plate by carefully sliding a putty knife between them, which is apparently causing some seperation between the solar cell and the clear sheet(or maybe the cell is fracturing...?). I've had no luck at all seperating the clear covering from the white backing material. From the feel of it, they seem to be made from the same material. Before I proceed any further, and possibly damage more cells, I thought I'd ask for some advice/suggestions from you guys. Any help is appreciated.
Brian H
