Epoxy for encapsulating cells (great DIY thread with photos!)

[scheek]

I have great pics that I will post soon.

[DeltaFox 25]

I'm sorry I am having trouble posting , everytime I push save to post It disapuieres.

[DeltaFox 25]

The panels that I have have been outside for about three month and seam to be doing well. When you use the Slygard be sure to have everything around there warm untill it dryes. To keep the Slygard from running off the glass I put a boundry around the outer edge
of a silicone I bought of of ebay.

[Steksken]

Hey Deltafox,
Do you have some pictures?
Kind regards,
Wim

[Mike90250]

I have made 3 solar panels ans on two of them I sealed it with Slygard184 encapsulate. It seams to be holding up real good right now. It has been through hot weather and snow and it's doing real good.

Very good. Names of usable encapsulate and results is very helpful to others. How many seasons has this been through? How do the 2 Slygard184 compare to the other one?

[DeltaFox 25]

I have made 3 solar panels ans on two of them I sealed it with Slygard184 encapsulate. It seams to be holding up real good right now. It has been through hot weather and snow and it's doing real good.

[MarineLiner]

Extend/increase of heated material

Using epoxy for fixing give a fix firm assembly. We should watch when it is put under the sun and heat increased. We know, different materials, glass and epoxy, have different extend/increase when heated. One of them could cracked. Is not it?

[Steksken]

Hey Sheek,

Your post about the epoxy is really intresting me.

Can you send some pics and your first impressions about your test!

Very nice post,

Kind regards,

Wim
Belgium

[scheek]

This was not epoxy glue. This is an epoxy that comes in gallon cans. I happen to have it in 250 gallon drums.

[philpaine]

Hi
I think I need some pictures to fully understand where the glue went!

Can you post some?

Thanks

Phil

[scheek]

I hope I get longer life out of cells by encapsulating them in epoxy. I will have pics later. Since all the chatter about corrosion and such, I decided to use a 2 part epoxy.

How I did it: After completing my soldering I had my cells facing down on my glass. I then finished my wiring. I used scotch tape to cover all edges of the cells going both ways, horizontal and vertical. I then ran a strip around the outer edge. My goal was to prevent any epoxy running between my cells onto the front side of my glass.

I used a 2 part epoxy that required (1) small styrofoam coffee cup of one and (2) cups of the other. I mixed the two and poured over the cells making sure that I had overlapped onto the glass to make a good seal.

It's dry now after a few hours and it appears to have sealed it all. NOW I'm not as worried about air getting to my cells and corroding them. Still, I'm not sure whether to leave an air vent or not, since my cells are protected. Maybe Mike has a idea.

Anyway, I'm ready to put this sucker to bed.