Protecting back of amorphous panels

[mtbandy]

Hi all,

A few months ago I put up a few small amorphous panels. The were simply stuck down to a piece of plastic with double sided pads, and after about 4-5 months all the panels were ruined (the silver peeled off the back of the panels).

Anyway I have just purchased a larger panel, and I have made a good wooden frame for it, coated with yaught varnish. I have mounted the panel into the frame using silicon sealant, and now I was wondering what to do to protect the back of the panel. Do I give it a coat of yaught varnish, or spray it with lacquer? Is there anything wrong with coating the back of the panel like this? Afterwards, if I coat the back of the panel, I will run around it again with sealant to completely make the whole thing watertight.

Excellent site btw, I have been coming here for many months now before finally deciding to start my own little renewable energy project!

Regards,

Andy from the UK

[fungus]

Hi,

I'm from the UK too by the way... I'd say that lacquer should be good but I'd be careful to check that it doesnt corrode it. All the amorphous panels I've had have another layer of glass on the back but I guess they're not all made as well. Another thought, you could use sticky back plastic? Very nice frame btw :-)

One question, how did you attach the wires to the panel?

[gotwind2]

Good question Fungus.

I too bought a load of this type of amorphous panels, 6 volt 6"x6" square about 8 years ago.

I tried all sorts of things to try and connect 2 wires to the panel, araldite (epoxy resin) - that didn't work. Ended up using small bulldog clips to 'mechanically' clamp the connection.

Never worked satisfactorily - and they are still lying dormant in my shed :/

Ben

www.gotwind.org

[fungus]

hmm I'd think you'd be able to scratch away a patch slightly and solder to it..

[ghurd]

Mine came with `special' solder. Still wasn't too good.

G-

[mtbandy]

Sticky back plastic is another option I suppose, I'll see if I have any.

As for connecting the wires... This panel already had the wires attached when I bought it. Whatever method was used, it has been covered with bitumen paint to hold it in place (I would coat the rest of the back of this panel with the same paint for protection, but I'm thinking the black would atract heat, decreasing the efficiency of the panel).

I guess the trick is to make the connection over as large a surface area as possible. my suggestion would be to use aluminium tape, with another thinner strip of aluminium tape stuck underneath that (to make contact with the panel). The wire could then be attached to the top of the alu tape with yet more alu tape, and the whole lot coated with bitumen or some kind of resin. I've also heard of some sucess using conductive resin, but I'm not sure if this is any good.

Andy

[jimjjnn]

Is copper sticky tape still availabve? I used it many years ago for making circuit boards as I didn't have circuit board equipment for etching boards

[mtbandy]

I've seen some copper tape recently on eBay, that would probably be better as you could solder the wire on... aluminium seems easier to get hold of though.

[stop4stuff]

hi Ben,

8 years is a long time for those panels to be dormant...

I have a project they'd be well suited for, I notice you're in Shropshire UK, I'm in Hampshire... if you're looking to part with the panels, get in touch, email = paul at stop4stuff dot com

cheers,

paul

[wooferhound]

To connect wires to the glass panels that I have, I used edge connectors off of old mother boards. I used a Blowtorch to unsolder the connectors. Then I cut the ends off of the connectors with a hacksaw. Solder wires to them and then slide them onto the glass panels.

[gotwind2]

I wonder if this product would do the job? Also seen it on eBay, not cheap.

JUST-FOR-COPPER^TM Solderless Copper Bonding for Copper Pipes and Fittings.

http://www.kalimex.co.uk/section.html?secpath=01.09.&pgid=30

[gotwind2]

Hi Paul, just checked on my old panels, half are smashed, the other half are giving me about 2 volts in good light.

Sorry, best place for them is the skip.

Ben

[ghurd]

I don't see tape as a good alternative.  It would be conductor / adhesive / conductor.

Physically holding a conductor to the PV would corrode past use in a very short time.

There are some conductive silver bearing epoxies out now.  I don't have great confidence in it, but expect it would work better than tape or physical connections.

Epoxy over large surface areas of glass tends to fracture the surface of the glass as it cures (it is used by decorative glass hobbyists to achieve a jagged looking surface).

G-