Are my panels going bad? Weird patterns on them.

[TransAmDan]

I was up on the roof installing some pigeon mesh. The pigeons were not happy, they were giving me the look. Anyway while cleaning the panels i notice an odd effect on a couple of them.

Strange line, looks like the lines is broken, like a fuse. The panels are around 8 yeasr old. These ones are facing south.



A close up of the image above.


I dont have the make of the panels to hand. They are 1.6m x 1m, the installers said they are 325w but thats all I can recall. I do have all the paperwork from the installers some time ago, may take a few weeks to find it.

[littleharbor2]

The top photo looks like "Snail trails" They are generally regarded as harmless. The lower photo looks like a flaw in the screen printed silver paste traces. It appears to gave generated mini hot spots which are causing that bubbling in the encapsulant. Looking at the enlarged photo I would be curious as to whether or not this panel has reduced output. Sounds like it wouldn't be easy to isolate this panel and test it. You would need to take precautions to protect yourself and the connections. You would definitely need to shut down the system to ensure there's no current flowing when you break any connections. Unless you are comfortable doing this and know what you are doing it would probably be best left to a professional. If you haven't noticed and decreased production from your system this may not be worth pursuing.

[solarix]

Could be grounds for a warranty action, but good luck getting the manufacturer (slide a phone under the top end of a panel and get a snapshot of the label) to honor anything as long as the modules are putting out anywhere close to what their rating is. Possibly a little moisture has gotten under the glass and dribbled down those cells causing them to overheat the traces.

[TransAmDan]

I could try to get a photo of the back.
As far as energy producing I'm not seeing anytihng really wrong. It peaked at 3.4kw a few days ago, this seems around normal from the yesar it was installed. As they are working, it may be best I just leave them. i could send off an email to the installers to see about warranty etc..

I'm looking to expand my solar array onto the garage and onto a large shed I havn't built yet. So these older panels will be a small part. I'll keep an eye on performance. I guess if 2 squares have failed then the current of the other 5 panels will be passing through that damaged panel.

[bcroe]

I would put a DC clamp on ammeter around a panel lead, to see if the
current is keeping up with the rest of the system. If your panels are all
in a series string, that will not tell, but voltage will be reduced if bypassing.
Bruce Roe