Damaged 100W flexible solar panel

[Flyview]

Hey guys,

So the panel I bought last year is already broken. I think I may have mishandled it a few times putting up and taking it down off my RV roof by grabbing it with a single hand. I didn't realize they're so fragile. Long story short the best I can get is about 1.5A and 19V (rated 6.1A Isc and 20V Voc). One of the cells gets really hot while measuring amps now and I'm pretty sure I can see some hairline cracks in the cell. This also happens to coincide with where I would have grabbed it from. This panel does have the wires running on the front.

Is it possible/worth it to try fixing this thing? Here's a picture:



Thanks!

[Mike90250]

Is it possible/worth it to try fixing this thing?

Likely, not feasible. But you did learn how brittle a flexible panel is. I'm sorry.

[SunEagle]

I agree with Mike. I do not believe you can fix this panel. Just learn from how it got damaged and try not to make the same mistake in the future. Sorry for your loss.

[Flyview]

Likely, not feasible. But you did learn how brittle a flexible panel is. I'm sorry.

I agree with Mike. I do not believe you can fix this panel. Just learn from how it got damaged and try not to make the same mistake in the future. Sorry for your loss.

Thanks guys! Yup lesson learned. I've been trying to decide which one to buy next and it seems like a lot of these go bad in about a year for a lot of people regardless, probably due to heat. Do you guys have recommendations for a robust high quality one?

[Bigbillsd]

I have been using 4 of the Renogy 160w flexible s for one year now. I glued them onto my RV roof with the recommended Sikaflex. They seemed very sturdy when I was installing them last year and are working as advertised. I plan on buying 4 more panel this winter and installing them on the other side of the roof. They are made differently than the one you photographed. Mine look a lot sturdier and have a 5 year materials warranty. Not sure if that would have covered your issue though. On sunny days I can get 550watts from those panels which is incredible to me as they are flat mounted up there.
I am buying more as my original calculations forgot to include the Inverter running all day while charging using appox 8 AH which used about 1/2 of the total amp hours needed to be put into the batteries each day. So I have been using my home built 200w suitcase to make up for that mistake. That suitcase was made with HomeDepot 100w $89 panes which are just too heavy to take in and out of the rv often. (should have made them out of flexible s... )

Anyway good luck. I bought mine direct from Renogy last year but now it appears Amazon is $50 cheaper. https://amzn.to/2m1XkqH

-Bill

[HadrianKross]

Yes.

edit: you need to reconnect the damaged cell (tabbing wire + solder OR copper tape); joys of series... strip the protection layer over the cell—top and bottom—retab. broken cell is slightly less efficient...reprotect...probably epoxy for that panel. If you want to get fancy you can replace the cell with an identical one. Now it’s skill with an exacto knife... Consider bypass (diode) solution(s) to prevent overheating next time.

[bcroe]

There is a tiny bottle of fluid that dries as copper, for repairing rear window defog
traces. I wonder if you could use that for connections, then paint some insulation
over it? Bruce Roe

[HadrianKross]

Could work through a crack.

But if it seeps to the negative and creates a fault...

—

Interesting applications though:

copper tape, wire glue, and liquid copper