Broken glass solar panels

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harrisonpatm

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Jan 5, 2022
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Someone on my local classifieds is getting rid of 330w panels at 5 bucks apiece, all with broken glass in various levels of broken. Some with a few cracks, some with full spiderwebs across the whole surface. What do you think? At the price, I'm tempted to go for it, just to see what happens. He's got a dozen or two.

It was suggested that I could purchase clear vinyl wrap and cover the tops. How many winters do you think that'll last?
 
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harrisonpatm said:
Someone on my local classifieds is getting rid of 330w panels at 5 bucks apiece, all with broken glass in various levels of broken. Some with a few cracks, some with full spiderwebs across the whole surface. What do you think? At the price, I'm tempted to go for it, just to see what happens. He's got a dozen or two.

It was suggested that I could purchase clear vinyl wrap and cover the tops. How many winters do you think that'll last?
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The problem is getting rid of them if they don't work and/or water seeps in and they fail in a year or 2.
I've had 2 bad panels and used a metal skill saw to chop them up to put in the trash - glass everywhere.

If you have a way to get rid of them....
 
If the panels are still functional, they could be used still. But as OffGrid mentions, you need to make sure water doesn't get into them.

There are few things you can use, such as the vinyl wrap, of clear UV resistance tape, and even epoxy sealant. Though you do have to weigh in the cost of these fixes.

No matter, I would never rely on these in production. They may be great for testing purposes only, or for maybe keeping a gate battery charged, or something like that.
 
The cost of vinyl wrapping a dozen panels would be around $500, and it's not a difficult task. Still a bargain for a dozen panels, even at reduced output

I'll call around to my recyclers to make sure they'd take whole solar panels for disposal, before I purchase.
 
Maybe moister is already in, i will not risk it for myself.
It is a matter of time before a panel will get a hotspot/short, and thus a potential fire hazard.

There are second handed panels enough for a bit more.
I bought my first set for not even 100 euro, (dont laugh...)12 panels 34v and 100wp, oke they dont do much as new ones.
They give me a 112 w per m2 and new ones 190 w per m2.

My personal advice for this bargain, sorry: dont buy.


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harrisonpatm said:
Appreciate the advice all. I didn't buy, still wanted to, but someone else actually got them first.
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Sometimes help is coming from a unexpected corner.
 
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