Solar Panel Problems

I was given them as they were saved from the skip by a work colleague. They are meant to be 23% efficient out of the box.
And they havent gone milky or open circuit yet.

My first solar installation cost me £21 for a PWM controller , plus third of a tube of old Sikaflex, some speaker cable and some pond water pump hose for trunking...

Its now trebled to £60 as I now have an epEver Tracer MPPT controller.

Just FYI, the shadowing diodes on these panels are buried in the panel . Apparently in very sunny weather they can get hot and burn out if you have 5 panels in series and half of one gets shadowed..

 

I have an update:
With a little effort I have now successfully removed my two failed semi-flexible panels without causing any damage to the van roof. I’m not sure that the panels faired so well.

As mentioned previously, I contacted Photonic Universe and within a day they had been in touch and offered a discount on new replacement panels as a courtesy given that my previous panels had failed after just 18 months use. Following my experience of semi-flexible panels I was 100% committed to purchasing a rigid panel, so after perusing their catalogue for an hour or so, weighing up the pros and cons of the various panels, I opted for a 160W semi-flexible, which I hope to fit this weekend. Oh well.

Regarding the benefits of an MPPT controller, I tested the new 160W panel at midday today in full sunshine. The panel was outputting 7.1A @ 19.7V (139.9W) and the MPPT controller was putting 9.6A into the battery @ 14.2V (136.3W). I believe that a PWM controller would have supplied the battery with just 7.1A @ 14.2V (100.8W), around 35% less.

 

Oh I do like stats. I’m thinking of gluing a remote temperature pickup to the roof underneath the panel so I can keep an eye on the max & min temperatures. Just because I can.

 

I am going to be removing my panels as a part of a clean up. I will be "sawing" them off with some thin steel cable aka bicycle brake/gearchange cable.
And I expect to be able to refit the same still working panels.

 

That’s good service from Photonic Universe and a huge advantage using a supplier that you can contact if something goes wrong.

 

Agreed , I was going to buy from them but all the panels I pencilled in were out of stock ..
Finished up buying a 200w flexible one from the States . Problem being , I don't reckon it's 200w - I'll find out when I fit it (at some point!) but it was cheap as chips so don't mind installing the system and changing the panel if it's pants ..

Edit , I looked at the PU mono fixed panels too but didnt fancy 15kg on the fibreglass roof , too heavy for mine .

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