How much life left in this panel

[la7qz]

Hi

I have an old 55W solar panel which looks very tired, but still seems to be working OK:

Has anyone else seen damage like this? What caused it? Bad quality? I have no idea how old this panel is, but on my old boat I had a 45W panel which was at least 14-15 years old and showed no sign of deterioration. However, that one had spent most of its life in Norway, while this one has been in the Caribbean. I haven't measured the panels individually, but it actually seems to put out just as much power as my other two almost new 55W panels.

In addition to the damage you can see here, the white plastic film on the back of the panel is coming off and as the junction boxes are attached to the film, they are also coming unstuck. My two other panels are permanently installed on the boat, but I have been storing this one below decks when I'm at sea and just putting it up on deck when I'm at anchor. I would like to make an installation bracket for it so it can be used all the time, but that seems a bit of a waste if the panel is about to die.

Here is a close up of some of the cells:

Regards,

Owen Morgan

Yacht Magic

Falmouth Harbour, Antigua

[TomW]

Owen;

This looks a lot like a panel I saw mounted to an RV roof. At the time I figured it was heat damage from being mounted flat on the roof with a large bead of caulk around the frame to roof. It was a long time ago and I recall that the panel put out voltage but no useful current. May or may not be the same thing but I definitely remember that light center on the cells.

Maybe someone with more experience has better information. Seems worth looking into whether or not they could be useful.

Cheers.

TomW

[la7qz]

Hi Tom

Well, it is useful now as it seems to be working just as well as my two almost new panels, but how long is it going to last...? It was mounted on the guardrail of another sailboat before I got it, so will have had plenty of ventilation. I don't know whether that was the original installation or they got it from somewhere else though.

Regards,

Owen Morgan

Yacht Magic

Falmout Harbour, Antigua

[ghurd]

I would guess heat damage too, though I have never seen one burned that bad that still works.  I bet it was installed tight to the deck at one time, and maybe thats why it was moved.

It may work sporadically. Semi common for the worst burnt PV's I've seen. Keep an eye on it's charging amps, watching for on, off, on, off kind of thing. They seem to cut out more often when they are hot.

The white film on the back is not a big deal on most panels.

Trim it off with a razor blade. Carefully.  Don't cut into the PV.

Get close to the box, and a bit under if possible.  Run a good bead of silicone around the box so it's touching the PV, just to hold the box still.

If the box is very loose now, get the film out from under it, put a good layer of silicone under it too.

Before the silicone sets up, check the factory silicone inside the box, where the wires come in. Make sure its' laying like it should.  It can get folded so the box won't lie flat, like a poorly installed grommet (best example I can think of).  A bit of wiggling should get it to jump back where it was so the box can lie flat and tight to the PV.

Then check where the film pulled out of the frame.  Make sure the rubbery caulk is in place so water can't get to the edge of the panel.  I run a bead around there too, just to be sure the gaps are filled in.

Standing water will freeze and deform the PV frame. Not sure your boat will see much freezing weather.

G-

[wpowokal]

I have 8 panels in possibly worst state than yours, I purchased them second hand as a green horn to PV. And I got sucked in, 7 work just fine still, the eidth has a bad connection (my assumption), all worked just fine for the last 4 years.

I am awaiting time to operate on that one recalcitent. I learned shortly after I purchased those that they came from a mine site in the north West of Western Australia, so it is reasonable to assume heat has shortened their life. Day temps frequently exceed 40-45 deg C there.

The bad panel makes full volts just gives 0.7-0.9 amps instead of 3.2A, my plan is to bypass that cell as the connection to the next is visably stressed.

allan down under

[la7qz]

Hi Wmpowokal

I suppose if you've already got four years out of yours with only one failing, then I may hope to get a couple of years out of this one if I tidy up the back of the panel as suggested by Ghurd, so maybe I should go ahead and make a permanent installation for it. Of course, according to sod's law, it'll probably fail the day after I make the permanent installation...

Anyway, if I do replace it later, I will want something approximately the same shape and size, so the bracket would suit the replacement.

That of course raises the question where to get 55W panels. It seems it is getting more and more difficult to find anything smaller than 80W these days. There is no sensible place to install an 80W panel on this boat where it will not either be partially shaded most of the time or interfere with sailing. This is after all primarily a sailing machine, not a RE platform. I've seen too many boats that are so crowded with gear that they no longer sail worth a damn.

Regards,

Owen Morgan

Yacht Magic

Falmouth Harbour

[renewablehome]

The damage noted in the picture is due to saltwater contact with the EVA layer.Ill assume you have a tear or delaminated layers somewhere on the panel and damp sea air has floated into the panel.Ive now seen a few of those older Siemens panels with that kind of damage but if you dont want it to progress you have to eliminate air getting into the EVA layer.A permanent epoxy at the edges is the best bet,im not sure if a basic silicon will withstand salt air and might peel fairly quick.

Hope that helps.

[la7qz]

Hi

I took the panel to the dumpster today.

It died a couple of weeks ago. It was putting out 6.3V unloaded in direct sunlight...

Owen