Injured - ReneSola Panel 295W

[Dacflyer]

I just Acquired a nice large solar panel it is 295W, the panel is about as large as a sliding glass door..
Model# JC295M-24/Abh
ser - 05174514081812802 I can't see a date code.

This Panel was given to me, It is damaged, Burned spots.
Is there any help for a panel like this ?
What could have caused this to happen ?
I tried to call the California office to ask about it's age etc but the number appears to be disconnected.

 

[Dacflyer]

I forgot to attach the photos..

 

[gnubie]

It's hard to tell from the pictures but see how the sheet looks like safety glass that has been shattered in the pictures? If that patterning is in the clear epoxy it's a pretty good sign of moisture ingress. I've never seen one with damage over such a wide area of the panel before. Assuming it really is moisture it's reacted with the cells causing shorts and hot spots. Regardless of it being moisture entry etc, some of the cells have failed and developed shorts hence the burning on the cells and the back sheet. One way or the other "He's dead, Jim", unrecoverable and unsafe to use.

 

[Dacflyer]

That pattern in the glass is just a super close up.. the glass is not broken nor have there been any attempted repairs......
But if it's dead, then it's dead..
I wonder if i could carefully cut into the backside and bypass the bad cell and then epoxy over the surgery...
I have nothing to loose with a free panel..

 

[gnubie]

Not the glass, the sheet under the glass that contains the cells.

If you try to repair it you want to cut and peel off a section of the white backsheet, then grind into the epoxy with a dremel or the like. Start at the defective cell side and go very slowly. The metal strips are very very thin and compared to the epoxy pretty fragile. If you manage to not fubar the wires to the adjacent good cell you can grind through the bad cell end and bridge over the cell with wires.

You have several cells failing there, so it's highly likely more will fail. The panel is more or less begging to catch on fire. Where ever you put it make sure it's not within fire distance of anything else.

 

[Dacflyer]

Ok, I gotchya now..
I'd only use this for testing things out.. It won't be used in any system.
and it'd be mounted on a metal rack.