[the real post] Solar Panel Encapsulation

[matrixone]

Hello All,

Found a interesting forum here for DIY Solar panels. I am a 24 year Engineer of electronics and communications and I am interested to make solar panels (later I will post my project).

The real problem here for DIY panels is the durability and also ENCAPSULATE the cells. We always see that the Sylgard 184 is the way to go, but it is too expensive. I got 150 solar cells (polycystaline, 0.6v, 3A) for 150 USD, including tabbing wire, Roxin flux and cables. So it is not possible that I am going to expend double or triple the price for encapsulating the cells.

I investigate the possible encapsulants for solar panels, see the list:

1- Dow Corning Sylgard 184 - http://www.ellsworth.com/display/pro...ctid=216&Tab=V (the god of encapsulant)

2- Dow Corning Sylgard 164 - http://www.ellsworth.com/display/pro...ctid=205&Tab=V (have almost same description of the Sylgard 184)

3-Dupont PV solution - http://www2.dupont.com/Photovoltaics...e20091027.html (looks promissing, release it Oct 2009)

4- The EVA - http://cgi.ebay.com/EVA-Sheet-for-So...item5d28143278 (the cheap)

As we can see in the list, the Sylgard 184 is the clear winner in some other way, just mix, cure let it happen and in 1 day, you have a hard and good looking solar panel backing, also encapsulate the solar cells.

The problem here is that we need to look for PRICE and also Durability (at least 15 years), so the question is THERE IS A SUBSTITUTE OF THE DOW CORNING SYLGARD 184 FROM OTHER BRAND? Also a cheaper one?. If we select items number 3 and 4, they are "cheap" but you need extra machinery and also extra material to seal the solar cells and the Panel itself.

So, THERE IS A SOLUTION THAT WE ONLY NEED TO MAKE THE SOLAR FRAME, PUT THE GLASS, TAB THE SOLAR CELLS AND JUST AD A MAGICAL ENCAPSULANT? Lets make this post the real encapsulant solution for all the DIY's of solar panels. The only product that is almost the same as the Sylgard 184 is item number 2 (sylgard 164), but dont specify the properties of being a PV encapsulant.

Please post prices, links and just get into the facts right away. This will help a lot of people here.

thanks!

[DeltaFox 25]

The Sylgard 164 is for potting , like inside your juntion box so no moister getts there. and other potting not encapsulating the cells. There is Sylgard out there that is cheeper then E-bay.

[Solar Friend]

Solar-Tite alternative

Hello All,

Found a interesting forum here for DIY Solar panels. I am a 24 year Engineer of electronics and communications and I am interested to make solar panels (later I will post my project).

The real problem here for DIY panels is the durability and also ENCAPSULATE the cells. We always see that the Sylgard 184 is the way to go, but it is too expensive. I got 150 solar cells (polycystaline, 0.6v, 3A) for 150 USD, including tabbing wire, Roxin flux and cables. So it is not possible that I am going to expend double or triple the price for encapsulating the cells.

I investigate the possible encapsulants for solar panels, see the list:

1- Dow Corning Sylgard 184 - http://www.ellsworth.com/display/pro...ctid=216&Tab=V (the god of encapsulant)

2- Dow Corning Sylgard 164 - http://www.ellsworth.com/display/pro...ctid=205&Tab=V (have almost same description of the Sylgard 184)

3-Dupont PV solution - http://www2.dupont.com/Photovoltaics...e20091027.html (looks promissing, release it Oct 2009)

4- The EVA - http://cgi.ebay.com/EVA-Sheet-for-So...item5d28143278 (the cheap)

As we can see in the list, the Sylgard 184 is the clear winner in some other way, just mix, cure let it happen and in 1 day, you have a hard and good looking solar panel backing, also encapsulate the solar cells.

The problem here is that we need to look for PRICE and also Durability (at least 15 years), so the question is THERE IS A SUBSTITUTE OF THE DOW CORNING SYLGARD 184 FROM OTHER BRAND? Also a cheaper one?. If we select items number 3 and 4, they are "cheap" but you need extra machinery and also extra material to seal the solar cells and the Panel itself.

So, THERE IS A SOLUTION THAT WE ONLY NEED TO MAKE THE SOLAR FRAME, PUT THE GLASS, TAB THE SOLAR CELLS AND JUST AD A MAGICAL ENCAPSULANT? Lets make this post the real encapsulant solution for all the DIY's of solar panels. The only product that is almost the same as the Sylgard 184 is item number 2 (sylgard 164), but dont specify the properties of being a PV encapsulant.

Please post prices, links and just get into the facts right away. This will help a lot of people here.

thanks!

Google .... "Solar-Tite" It looks like the same stuff as Slygard but it is about $20.00 Cheaper

[DeltaFox 25]

You have to remember that this has to be Optical clear

[Swampwood]

Keep this one alive

[rollandelliott]

dow 6010

dow 6010 is half the price of slygard you can buy it direct from krayden, but they have a 36kg minimum order. see other post detailing bulk order of it.

[bidaw]

Has anyone used Aeromarine 300/21??? A buddy of mine that got me hooked into this DIY Solar Panel thing has been using it the same way people here are using S-184. Great results from what I have seen of his.

[rollandelliott]

how much does the aeromarine stuff cost? is it a flexible epoxy, or does it get super hard/brittle?

[bidaw]

I found it (Aeromarine 300/21) on Amazon for $93 shipped for 1.5 gallons. I personally haven't used it, but I ordered some to try. I have seen a friends panel, and it looks great...he has had it out in weather since last summer, so it made it thru this harsh winter with no issues. I've seen on YouTube where others have used it. They say it compares to Sylgard-184.

[bamrex]

bad idea areomarine

will yellow from uv in no time, i emailed tech dept.. to find out...

[bidaw]

Strange that all of the research that I have done on the product...including the reading the tech sheets state that it does (Aeromarine 300/21) have UV protection. It is used for Marine and Aircraft .... Anyway, I am not a spokesperson for them. I have just seen the results and thought I would give an alternative to the expensive stuff....

Technical Details

* AeroMarine 300/21 Epoxy Resin Kit
* Our best and most popular clear epoxy. Better sunlight and UV resistance than conventional epoxies.
* Low viscosity epoxy 600cps
* Non Blushing Epoxy with Cycloaliphatic Hardener. No amine blush so no cleaning required between coats
* Excellent gloss and clarity, and excellent chemical resistance


Good Luck...

[rollandelliott]

"Better sunlight and UV resistance than conventional epoxies."

That just doesn't sound that convincing.

Of course you only have 0.5mm or less encapsulant between the cell and the glass, if it yellows a bit is anyone really going to notice? I have a roll of clear packaging tape that is several years old and it has yellowed, but if I put it on a package it looks clear.

as long as it keeps the moisture out a little bit of yellowing might not even be that big of a deal.

I contacted a chinese epoxy maker and they say their epoxy works fine for SMALL solar panels like 10x10" or smaller, but anything bigger they recommend eva.

[rollandelliott]

Translucent Silicone Rubber, AM 128T

aeromarine also makes
Translucent Silicone Rubber, AM 128T
i'm going to order a sample off their web site and see how clear it actually is.

it's about the same price as 300-21. i got a sample of that in the mail too and it is pretty hard, about as hard as plexiglass a little softer since bitting into it (does not taste good LOL) made some teeth marks. it might work in areas that do not have frost, fl, tx, etc, but in northern climates it might be too brittle?

at $90 a gallon or so it's more expensive than the polyurethane stuff from epic resins which is around $64 per gallon.

[Alan]

I've used that product before it is almost white, kind of milky, deffionetely not close to clear.

[GuyMark]

A thought with regard to the yellowing question of Aeromarine 300/21

I found it (Aeromarine 300/21) on Amazon for $93 shipped for 1.5 gallons. I personally haven't used it, but I ordered some to try. I have seen a friends panel, and it looks great...he has had it out in weather since last summer, so it made it thru this harsh winter with no issues. I've seen on YouTube where others have used it. They say it compares to Sylgard-184.

I note that some folks reckon this would not yellow - and others are fairly sure it will. I was jsut thinking though that perhaps even if it did, as the layer is extremely thin between the protective glass of the finished unit and the face of the cell, then possibly even if yellowing DID occur, then the effect would be pretty negligible - unlike perhaps if it was a mm thick - like a really heavy build up of varnish layers.

For example, many plastics regarded as "clear" are in fact translucent once they get some thickeness to them. Polyethylene for example as a THIN poly bag is pretty much transparant. A heavy guage rubble sack in natural polyethylene is of course translucent "grey".

Doing a spot of googling I found that a guy who had one batch of commerical panels "yellow" noticed that although they were replaced under warrantee, that the output difference was hard to measure between the coating which was still perfectly clear and the one which had yellowed. A photo of the panels here http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/z...ellowpanel.jpg

I agree some may consider it not worth the risk but I would be interested to know how much power can be lost as a worst case with BAD yellowing. 5%? 20% 77%

I'd quite like to have a go at making a panel up - but some of the sealants in the UK really are so expensive that it almost removes the saving from "DIY". I will have a good trawl through the forum shortly though and see if I can find some other alternatives that folks recommend.

Time for me to start learning.

Mark