Flexible Solar Panels - General thoughts ?

[nut17]

In my case Terry the panels were all wired in parallel and sandwiched on the roof with 10mm honeycomb polycarbonate sheeting to protect the integrity of the fibreglass laminate roof material. These panels were installed in late March and failed by October so were not subjected to a Hawke's Bay summer. The delamination was entirely due to poor quality manufacturing and the supplier gave my installation the thumbs up.

Cheers
Chris

[T1 Terry]

In my case Terry the panels were all wired in parallel and sandwiched on the roof with 10mm honeycomb polycarbonate sheeting to protect the integrity of the fibreglass laminate roof material. These panels were installed in late March and failed by October so were not subjected to a Hawke's Bay summer. The delamination was entirely due to poor quality manufacturing and the supplier gave my installation the thumbs up.

Cheers
Chris

I was more referring to the 29v open circuit voltage which is a bit like 2 x 12 volt panels in series.... not quite as the open circuit voltage would need to be 14.5v x 2. The only issues we had once we established the first coat of polish and 6 mthly retreatment regime was the modules within the panel cracking in two. We never established if it was a faulty module resulting in the panel back feeding into that section and causing a localised over heat or if it was the expansion of the Lexan and plastic backing was tearing the modules apart, but not all on any one panel and not all the panels, so still an unknown cause and effect thing. Some failed within a mth, other after more than 12 mths with nothing really in common between them accept a few panels in a full system failing. Yet to see it the new mounting system and new panel design solves the problem. They saved an enormous amount of weight on this install so rigid panels were not an option, 3.5kg x 19 v 13.5kg x 19 if you include mounting hardware

1900w semi flexible solar completed job small.jpg

[bagmaker]

Do they kind of need to be velco or grass style mounted - lits of little fingers attaching roof to panel instead of large surface-area contact points.
Any difference in expansion rates might be handled then. The fingers would need a fair bit of spacing between them for airflow.
I can picture such a thing but cannot think of a manufacturer.............

[shonky]

Hi,all.

Seem to remember pursuing the adhesive dilemma and the results were
(1) Sikaflex A252 with an 8mm bead all round then applying 4mm spacers to give the panel an a 4mm gusset after pressure was applied.

(2) Selley's recommended an adhesive whose name I've forgotten, but stressed that the panel should also be riveted or screwed down.

(3) TechFix recommended Fix8, a white silicone used largely in hot sandy countries where the locals wear bandages around their craniums to prevent headaches - it's sold by wholesalers at around $7 and delivered by courier from Ashmore on the Gold Coast. I've used it frequently and wholeheartedly recommend it. Note it has no "use by" date and after use can be popped back on the shelf - next time it's needed just press the trigger and it flows immediately. To remove it all one needs is a crappy wood chisel, a dumpy hammer and some chopped strand mat for the subsequent repairs.

If one is definitely committed to flexible panels I would seriously recommend rivets aided by an alloy strip fixed to the roof in such a way that it overlaps the front 25mm of the panel.

[bagmaker]

those methods would not result in much cooling underneath, Shonky, this is needed to insulate the roof from the panel and allow some movement for expansion. A light, well placed dot or two (NOT that Dot ) might not be strong enough.
If the actual panels are of good quality (?) and do as they are supposed to, a good mounting system shall be "come up with".
I thought the coreflute style was a great idea but in reality there is only good expansion/contraction properties in the one plane -across the ribs.
Not much is going to move along the rib direction when its firmly glued top and bottom.
Whats needed is a coreflute where the "core" is just posts, not ribs