[RE-wrenches] 30-year old PV module

[benn kilburn]

Great info Joel, thanks!
are cell and glass thickness somehow encoded into a modules' spec sheet?  or do you have to dig deeper and hope to get a reply from a mfg?
benn
DayStar Renewable Energy Inc. benn at daystarsolar.ca780-906-7807 HAVE A SUNNY DAY


From: joel.davidson at sbcglobal.net
To: re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
Date: Sat, 22 May 2010 16:42:36 -0700
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] 30-year old PV module










Hello Drake,
 
(silicon not silicone) Good question about 
thickness. I recently inspected a circa 1996 solar 
array with 300 micron thick, 6-inch round cells encapsulated 
behind 3 mm thick glass and found a few cracked cells and impact 
fractures. Today, some cells are 260 to 200 microns and even down to 180 to 
160 microns thick. I think if the cells are handled properly, and the glass is 4 
mm thick, and the module frame is strong enough to minimize twisting, and the 
modules are handled and installed with care, then cell breakage can be kept to a 
minimum. It's not how thin the cells are. It is how the cells and modules 
are encapsulated and handled.
 
Joel Davidson

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: 
  Drake Chamberlin 
  To: RE-wrenches 
  Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2010 1:39 
PM
  Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] 30-year old PV 
  module
  
Thanks for the excellent article.  I have two of these old 
  Arcos, and they still put out like new, even though one was (apparently) used 
  in a concentrator, due to the fact that it came bronzed.  

Do you 
  think the newer modules, with thinner silicone, will last as 
  long?



At 10:53 AM 5/21/2010, you wrote:

  If your prospect asks how long do 
    PV modules last, refer them to this article
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/testing-thirty-year-old-photovoltaic-module 
  
  Drake Chamberlin
Athens Electric
OH 
  License 44810
CO License 3773
NABCEP TM  Certified PV Installer 
Office - 
  740-448-7328
Mobile - 740-856-9648 
  

  


  
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