L R AS Published on Sunday 4 June 2023 - n° 448 - Categories:panels
Repairing glass on damaged panels
A team from the Netherlands has used a series of techniques from the automotive industry to develop a new methodology for repairing glass in double-glazed solar panels. Their work in repairing solar panels damaged by glass represents the transformation of waste into valuable products.
The researchers explained that glass breakage in glass-to-glass solar panels could lead to a breakdown in the insulation of the encapsulant layer, resulting in the permeation of water and moisture into the panels, or the creation of micro-cracks in the solar cells, which would be highly detrimental to their performance.of water and moisture into the panels, or the creation of micro-cracks in the solar cells, which would be highly detrimental to their performance.
The proposed technique is based on a method for repairing the edges of windscreens.
It is implemented in seven different stages: determining the freshness and end of the fracture; cooling or heating the PV panel to the required temperature of 5° C to 29° C; cleaning the panel with a glass cleaner; inserting the repair resin into the fractures with using small drops; apply drops of pit resin to the larger edge pits; place an ultraviolet (UV) lamp at a distance of 20-30 cm and cure for at least 20 minutes; and check that all fractures are repaired.
"The materials used in the experimental repair consist of repair resin and windscreen pit resin, which are designed to restore the strength and insulation of the glass layers."A UV lamp with an intensity of 108 W UVA is needed to strengthen the resin, which can also be cured by natural UV light."
They compared the performance of 30 damaged glass panels with undamaged panels, all of which came from an operational photovoltaic installation operated by SolSolutions in the Netherlands.
The research team found that the proposed methodology did not damage the repaired panels, which functioned 'correctly' after repair and testing. "The absence of water-induced degradation indicates that the repaired glass layers are insulating again."
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/06/01/first-attempt-to-repair-glass-damaged-solar-panels/
PV Magazine of1 June 2023
