Freaks of nature , solar panels behaving strange
Sept 15, 2016 7:08:52 GMT
Post by sailbleu on Sept 15, 2016 7:08:52 GMT
Let me show a strange thing that happened to me a few days ago.
After 2 summers on top of the bimini I thought it would be wise to clean the flexible solar panels.
I have 4 * 80 watt up there and an additional 2 * 100 watt new from this season on the spray hood as one of the previous 80 watt blew off during a storm last winter , nowhere to find in the murky marina water.
As these solars are PET top coated , which cheapies usually are , they get foggy after awhile , the sun affecting the PET material you see.
I noticed some output drop this season and blamed it on the not so clear PET coat .
Time for an experiment
Since I've tried this before on one of the old sprayhood 80 watters I thought I would do the same with the bimini panels. Never measured the output afterwards in this spray hood case though .
I decided to polish one bimini panel and compare the output with the 3 non-polished ones.
If in doubt , check it out.
I have several polishing paste's on board , first I applied the finishing paste , but that took too long . i then turned to the ' fine ' paste which is a bit more abrasive than the finishing type , and that was the way to go.
I'm sure you can tell the difference between the polished and non- polished panel.
Time for a reading , but not before I placed both panels in exactly the same position next to each other collecting the same amount of light.
The reading for the polished panel ( short circuit current ) was around 1, 70 amps
I was in for a surprise checking the foggy panel , I did not expect this . 2,33 amps
?
This was washed and degreased , the test was to establish if the sun effected PET would reduce output , and to what extend .
I then raised the dirty panel under an angle to collect more light ( it was 11 AM btw ) and got 4 amps on the display.
Done the same with the polished panel , 2,3 amps
i also checked the other two non washed non polished panels , all the readings where the same as those from the other washed & degreased but non-polished panel.
I was completely lost here , I really don't know what to think of it.
This goes in to all logic telling us a clean panel must deliver more output.
So again ,
-Panel 1 was washed down , degreased and polished
-Panel 2 was washed down and degreased. So that remained foggy because of PET degrade .
- Panel 3 & 4 were left as they were , dirty and of course foggy.
Have I polished panel 1 to perfect so it reflects part of the light ?
But when you buy these panels new , they look exactly the same as panel 1 .
Has the polishing created microscopic small crevices that aren't there coming new from the manufacturer plant ?
Should I polish again with the finishing 3M paste so the surface becomes even more shiny ?
This is weird no ?
Your opinions would be appreciated .
Regards
After 2 summers on top of the bimini I thought it would be wise to clean the flexible solar panels.
I have 4 * 80 watt up there and an additional 2 * 100 watt new from this season on the spray hood as one of the previous 80 watt blew off during a storm last winter , nowhere to find in the murky marina water.
As these solars are PET top coated , which cheapies usually are , they get foggy after awhile , the sun affecting the PET material you see.
I noticed some output drop this season and blamed it on the not so clear PET coat .
Time for an experiment
Since I've tried this before on one of the old sprayhood 80 watters I thought I would do the same with the bimini panels. Never measured the output afterwards in this spray hood case though .
I decided to polish one bimini panel and compare the output with the 3 non-polished ones.
If in doubt , check it out.
I have several polishing paste's on board , first I applied the finishing paste , but that took too long . i then turned to the ' fine ' paste which is a bit more abrasive than the finishing type , and that was the way to go.
I'm sure you can tell the difference between the polished and non- polished panel.
Time for a reading , but not before I placed both panels in exactly the same position next to each other collecting the same amount of light.
The reading for the polished panel ( short circuit current ) was around 1, 70 amps
I was in for a surprise checking the foggy panel , I did not expect this . 2,33 amps
?This was washed and degreased , the test was to establish if the sun effected PET would reduce output , and to what extend .
I then raised the dirty panel under an angle to collect more light ( it was 11 AM btw ) and got 4 amps on the display.
Done the same with the polished panel , 2,3 amps
i also checked the other two non washed non polished panels , all the readings where the same as those from the other washed & degreased but non-polished panel.
I was completely lost here , I really don't know what to think of it.
This goes in to all logic telling us a clean panel must deliver more output.
So again ,
-Panel 1 was washed down , degreased and polished
-Panel 2 was washed down and degreased. So that remained foggy because of PET degrade .
- Panel 3 & 4 were left as they were , dirty and of course foggy.
Have I polished panel 1 to perfect so it reflects part of the light ?
But when you buy these panels new , they look exactly the same as panel 1 .
Has the polishing created microscopic small crevices that aren't there coming new from the manufacturer plant ?
Should I polish again with the finishing 3M paste so the surface becomes even more shiny ?
This is weird no ?
Your opinions would be appreciated .
Regards
