How to protect FRP panel from the elements?

[riskable]

I recently received as a gift a 30W Innergy FRP panel along with a charge controller and a battery (12V sealed gel cell 86 amp-hours, it'll take about 8 days to charge!).  The panel itself appears to be mounted on top of two layers of plastic and coated with fiberglass resin (which is oddly rough to the touch).  I'm not sure if the panel could survive being rained on so I'd like some advice in that regard.  How should I protect it?

I was thinking about just placing it in a plexiglass-covered container (with rain-safe vents) of some sort that is tilted at the appropriate angle towards the sun.  Any advice in this regards will be greatly appreciated.

FYI:  I tried searching the forums for anything related to "FRP" or "fiberglass" and didn't come up with anything useful.

-Riskable

http://www.riskable.com

"I have a license to kill -9"

[Heliotrack]

I believe (and don't shoot me if I'm wrong) that this panel is designed to be outside in the elements AS IS.

Here is some promotional text copied right from the Alternative energy store website

http://shop.altenergystore.com/itemdesc~product~Ip50f,+50w,+12v,+Fiberglass+Solar+Module~ic~INN50-IP
50F~eq~~Tp~.htm

"These are high quality lightweight fiberglass (FRP). The seven modules listed below are targeted at 12VDC power sources and are used in applications such as logistics tracking, asset management systems, off-grid lighting, mobile communications, mobile computing, recreational vehicles, gate openers, water pumps, signaling devices and surveillance cameras."

I don't think that a commercial solar panel manufacturer would have much success with a solar panel than couldn't withstand the rain since the only good place to really mount them is outside.

The coating is probably rough to the touch because it reduces the amount of sun the panel reflects from the surface coating. This will make it a little more efficient because more light is reaching the PV material.

I have one of the 5 watt Sol charger panels that is covered in a fiberglass resin and I actually use it submerged in water for concentrated solar power (CSP) applications! I focus concentrated solar power into a hot water collector with a 5 watt solar panel inside. The water keeps the solar panel from melting and heats the water at the same time. Then we use the electricity generated to power the recirculation pump. The panel under normal sun will not power the recirculation pump at all but under 9x CSP the 5 watt panel is producing about 20 watts. Here is a link to a 7 hour time-lapse of the heliostat at work and a data chart of the energy that we were able to capture with the collector.

http://www.heliotrack.com/tl9x/index.html

So, IMO, put it outside as is.

Remember that many boats are made from fiberglass.

Justin

www.heliotrack.com

[riskable]

Thanks!  I figured the same thing as you, but I guess I wanted to get a second opinion.  For now, I made a little mount out of wood and used 3M Dual Lock to stick a thin piece of plexiglass over it.  It didn't seem to effect the output at all (even when it was dusty) so I'll probably leave it as-is for the time being.  It is hot out and I'm feeling rather lazy today )

-Riskable

"http://riskable.com">http://riskable.com

"I have a license to kill -9"