Ethergore
Senior Member
So DonC let me borrow the old failed panels so I could do some destructive testing. Here are some pictures of what the panel looks like.
Here is the top popped off: https://goo.gl/photos/qzJpSh21D5ccjFqG8
The wires are soldered inside her to a prong that sticks up from the laminated panel. Notice its completely covered with silicone to eliminate the chance of oxidation of the joints. Good.
Here is what the joints look like with the silicone dug out: https://goo.gl/photos/UBgWP6Uz7BVPengy8
I couldn't get it all the way out but if you look close you can see how it joins together.
Next I lifted up the box containing these joints: https://goo.gl/photos/qkXbQLPTm1UBCqH49
Look close and you can see where the connection enters the box from the laminated panel.
Here they are again with the box removed: https://goo.gl/photos/KM4n2ttcqpj1RnBa8
So I did some testing thinking the problem would surely be in this box since everything else is completely sealed. I took my multimeter and found that I still had good conductivity from the probe all the way to the tip of the MC4 connector. This ruled out what I thought would be the cause of the failure ie bad connectivity from breakdown of the connection.
The panel happened to be ripped on the back from where DonC took it off the roof: https://goo.gl/photos/bVaHh5qrovJsXSrFA
I checked continuity from this point to the lead on the same side which happened to be the positive lead. I had continuity here but none to the negative lead.
So far my assumption is that one of these points broke or melted somehow, which I doubt, or a solar cell itself went bad (more likely). If that is the case I am not sure how the new panels with new top pieces are going to solve our problems as it seems to be in the laminated portion. To be confident these problems are addressed by Renogy, I would want to hear that a change took place in the laminated panel itself.
I plan to further deconstruct this panel but it is very difficult to separate the panel to expose the insides. Any ideas on more testing I should do would be appreciated. I'm not an expert but can figure out if there is a complete circuit or not.
What do you guys think?
Here is the top popped off: https://goo.gl/photos/qzJpSh21D5ccjFqG8
The wires are soldered inside her to a prong that sticks up from the laminated panel. Notice its completely covered with silicone to eliminate the chance of oxidation of the joints. Good.
Here is what the joints look like with the silicone dug out: https://goo.gl/photos/UBgWP6Uz7BVPengy8
I couldn't get it all the way out but if you look close you can see how it joins together.
Next I lifted up the box containing these joints: https://goo.gl/photos/qkXbQLPTm1UBCqH49
Look close and you can see where the connection enters the box from the laminated panel.
Here they are again with the box removed: https://goo.gl/photos/KM4n2ttcqpj1RnBa8
So I did some testing thinking the problem would surely be in this box since everything else is completely sealed. I took my multimeter and found that I still had good conductivity from the probe all the way to the tip of the MC4 connector. This ruled out what I thought would be the cause of the failure ie bad connectivity from breakdown of the connection.
The panel happened to be ripped on the back from where DonC took it off the roof: https://goo.gl/photos/bVaHh5qrovJsXSrFA
I checked continuity from this point to the lead on the same side which happened to be the positive lead. I had continuity here but none to the negative lead.
So far my assumption is that one of these points broke or melted somehow, which I doubt, or a solar cell itself went bad (more likely). If that is the case I am not sure how the new panels with new top pieces are going to solve our problems as it seems to be in the laminated portion. To be confident these problems are addressed by Renogy, I would want to hear that a change took place in the laminated panel itself.
I plan to further deconstruct this panel but it is very difficult to separate the panel to expose the insides. Any ideas on more testing I should do would be appreciated. I'm not an expert but can figure out if there is a complete circuit or not.
What do you guys think?