Free damaged 535W panels

MrNoo

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Cirencester
I have been offered a load of panels from our site that have been damaged during installation/transport. Suntech Bifacial panels 535W, some are well past it but others have cracks in the glass, not bad. I have been offered them (there are 275) but obviously need to sort through and get rid of the worst ones.
They seem to work fine, chucking out 45V, not loaded a panel up to see what wattage it's chucking out mind and overcast here.
I'm assuming I can coat with some epoxy and use them or just use as is.
I hope to put a shed up in the non too distant future, worth having or not bother????
There are other panels undamaged but with the odd "plug" issue that look simple to repair.
 

MrNoo

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Cirencester
don't suppose there's any knackered cells with good glass you could swop to good cells with cracked glass?
i dont know if thats even possible
They seem all one piece not modular within the frame, alloy frame bonded with a sealer, glass both sides of the cells front and rear so work the same upside down!!
They (the two I have tested) one with a plug fault and un damaged produces the same voltage as a damaged panel, not checked under load fir wattage but they seem fine.
 

MrNoo

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Cirencester
8259B901-4F26-4D00-A9A5-DFBCD68AC7A8.jpeg
8259B901-4F26-4D00-A9A5-DFBCD68AC7A8.jpeg

This is the sort of damage
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
I have been offered a load of panels from our site that have been damaged during installation/transport. Suntech Bifacial panels 535W, some are well past it but others have cracks in the glass, not bad. I have been offered them (there are 275) but obviously need to sort through and get rid of the worst ones.
They seem to work fine, chucking out 45V, not loaded a panel up to see what wattage it's chucking out mind and overcast here.
I'm assuming I can coat with some epoxy and use them or just use as is.
I hope to put a shed up in the non too distant future, worth having or not bother????
There are other panels undamaged but with the odd "plug" issue that look simple to repair.
Thought of you with this advert.. :)
What intrigued me is that there are people spraying resin on the panels to re-seal them @ 15 quid a pop... Cheap enough!
 

MrNoo

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Cirencester
Thought of you with this advert.. :)
What intrigued me is that there are people spraying resin on the panels to re-seal them @ 15 quid a pop... Cheap enough!
Lol! Yes you can use epoxy to seal them or I guess a cheaper resin maybe a polyester although epoxy won’t discolour over time.
I think I’ll sort through them all and stick them in a shed for the time being
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
Lol! Yes you can use epoxy to seal them or I guess a cheaper resin maybe a polyester although epoxy won’t discolour over time.
I think I’ll sort through them all and stick them in a shed for the time being
Well, it looks as if there is some value in 'em.

The O&M chaps here told me that some sites are now looking to swap out panels for new, more efficient units on the older PV farms.

I guess that there will be quite a lot coming on the market if this takes off on a large scale.
 

MrNoo

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Cirencester
On 49 mw? What size are the panels?

Be aware that if you seal them that may further reduce efficiency.
No it's not that big, it's only got 13Mw connection with storage, it's on 88ac, cant remember the exact size in Mw
The panels are STP535S-C72/Pmh+ whatever that means, each one weighs 32Kg so not exactly small, just about fit in the back of my truck with the tailgate down
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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