Introduction: Broken Solar Panel Glass Repair (Simple)

By
About: Just a uni student building fun projects to get me through.

Hey Guys, just a quick and easy tutorial today! So recently I picked up these two 100W solar panels for under $100 because one of the panels glass was shattered. At first i believed I could just remove the smashed glass and replace it however after more research I discovered the solar cells and attached to the glass so removal is not an option.

There are a lot of videos and tutorials with different fixes but this was the simplest most effective and longest lasting fix, with no loss is quality of the panels.

Step 1: What You Need

All you need is

  1. Polyurethane, any type should do just ensure its water and weatherproof. I used Norglass, it was cheap and properties suited my needs. Also many resins will work too, but double check they are waterproof and wont fade in direct sunlight!
  2. Something to mix in
  3. Something to push the resin around the panel, I just used a scrapper from an old builders bog container.

Step 2: Applying the Resin

This process is super simple but here are the steps to follow.

  1. Level out the panel using a level (so the resin doesn't flow to one spot)
  2. Clean off the panel, just make sure its nice and clean for best results.
  3. Mix your resin following instructions on the can (three quarters of a margarine container covered my whole panel easily)
  4. Pour most of the resin around the panel but save a small amount.
  5. Push the resin around the panel to ensure the whole panel is covered evenly.
  6. Wait a few minutes for the resin to make its way into the cracks then using the leftover resin top up and low spots
  7. Leave to dry.
  8. Add more resin if needed.

Step 3: Results

So in the first image is the specifications of each panel, the next two are the the measured results of the panel after the repair. As you can see there is almost zero loss from the repair.

Step 4: Wrap Up

Hopefully this helps some of you guys out and is less complicated than some other explanations out there! As always leave any questions you may have and I'll try answer them to the best of my ability!

Also please chuck me a follow to stay informed on my instructables, I have a few exciting projects in the works at the moment not far away!