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

[DeltaFox 25]

can you get a 1/4 " piece of plywook . Mark off the area that the cells need to fit in.
sloder your cells , put them on the plywood. once you get the slygard on the glass . all you have to do is slide ( probly with help) the cells onto the slygard thta is on the glass.
then put the other slygard on top of that.


..

[mrnewbie]

Wow..that sounds hard to do using 6x6 cells..so fragile

This is a pretty big setup 55 6x6 cells...

Thinkin on it...

[DeltaFox 25]

No No put all the cell togeather , sodler all , lay them on something else like card board or somthing else. Make sure they will fit in the space you are going to put them in. Now put sylgard on the glass , now get your fully assambled cells and put them ontop of slygard that is on the glass, OK now put more slygard on top on the cells you just layed down, let it set untill dryed.

[mrnewbie]

Ok thats the plan..

Make Sylgard puddle
Lay in Strings of cells

Wait 3/4 days.

Solder strings of cells together.
coat back with 2nd real thin coat of sylgard covering buss wires.

Add that rubber paint or plastic panel to provide extra coverage when dry

[DeltaFox 25]

yes and then put slygard on top of the cell that are already there. so you will have glass , slygard , cells , slygard , no air bubbles.

[mrnewbie]

I don't understand..

I was thinking of..pooring the sylgard first..onto the glass then lay the strings of cells (blue side down) on top of the sylgard puddle..

Is this not what you were gonna do?

[DeltaFox 25]

No NO I think the sylgard is thick enough to keep the cells from moving around. Sylgard is like STP maybe a little thicker. I have made several panels with Sylgard and my cells didnot move around.you do it like me and put the sylgard ontop of the cells and let it dry
and you will be happy.

[mrnewbie]

Well if you beat me to it (laying cells on sylgard)..keep us updated.

My work table is a pool table..so its as level as I can get..
The only problem I see with putting the sylgard down first..is the cells FLOATING on top of sylgard..and squirting out of place..

Perhaps a weight on ends..or maybe even a piece of tape or something to keep em from sliding around..

If you try it before me...(I'm about a week away)..
Do post and let us know how it worked out..

[DeltaFox 25]

I really like them better , there are easer to work with and there not as fragel. I'm ordering 120 grade A today from evergreen. the ones that I have worked with seam not to curl up that much. I'm still going to lay the sylgard down first then cells then sylgard. I don't care how long it takes to dey just so there are no air pockets there.

[mrnewbie]

How do you like those 5x5 cells as compaired to the 6x6's.

Are they thicker..stronger..still curl up...easier to work with?

[DeltaFox 25]

Thats a real good deal on the glass, Everytime I called Superior Essex they told me I had to buy 3 of them or they could not sell it to me. I'm going to put the Sylgard down on the glass and then the cell's and then Sylgard on top of that . It will take the air out.
I had alot of trouble with the 6x6's so I;m working with 5x5's now and I'm making a 72 cell panel. Good luck on your project.

[mrnewbie]

Thinkin ahead.....from another board...its me..

free glass????


"But, if I was to see a sliding glass door..or a storm door roadside with a big chunk of glass in it, I would be tempted to grab it. Could be an opportunity to save a few bucks" I can make my panels any size I want.

Thinking about the sliding glass door(2 large glass sheets-safety of some kind), where to find one?

I wondered what do the glass installation people do with the old glass doors, when they install a new one.
Do they recycle? Throw them away, I don't know.
So I'll find someone who does and ask.

Looked through the local phone book..found 4 or 5 places that install glass. Maybe I can get some used glass from one of em..thinkin a sliding glass door would be perfect.

The very first place I called..Told the guy I was trying to make some home made solar panels..
I could tell he found it interesting.
He told me to come on down, would find me something, What size do I need. Told him any large size and I was really looking to recycle and trying to find some big panels such as those in an old sliding glass doors. I then asked if they recycle those..He said nope, they just put em in the dumpster.
People like the term recycle..far preferred over the term..gimme for free.
Because I mentioned big panels, such as sliding glass doors..A light went off in his head. He said, you know I have a few sheets of tempered glass, I could let you have it real cheap. We ordered the wrong size, we can't cut it down its a tempered glass, we can't return it.
Its almost the same size as whats in a sliding glass door.

$20 bucks each..34"x74" almost perfect. 5 rows of 11 cells.
Not free but close


Moral of story...look for free glass

Note..real solar panels use a low iron special glass..real darn expensive.
I researched this glass a little bit and as I remember it lets about 97% of the light in..to cells

Regular glass..tempered/safety..lets in about 90 to 93%..a little less..but much more cost effective IF you can get it cheap..U worried about that 7%..just add a few more 2$ cells

[mrnewbie]

Michael a Trowel?
I don't think a trowel is gonna work..sylgard is almost like water..very thin..

I am on my 3rd large solar panel..6x6 cells 11 rows of 5..for 55 cells..around 27/28volts..these are LARGE panels 36" by 73". Haven't even hooked up yet..other than to test the 2 already completed with a voltmeter.

It takes at least a slygard and a half container to do a fair job of covering the cells. ESSEX BROWNELL still will ship sylgard..I have ordered them in quant 3..(someone mentiond they won't..but they did for me..twice)

The 6x6 cells are a real pain to work with they do curl..and break real easy..After I finish this last panel..I may switch to the 5x5 cells..

Ideas to consider...

6x6 cells....I use a hot glue gun..a hobbiest tool...I put a small drop on the corners/sides of the curling cells to hold them down..before sylgarding, it works real well! I too have 2 many air bubbles..gotta be a better way to do it

Someone somewhere mentioned they take little pieces of wax paper and put small weights on back on cells then add sylgard, then just leave the wax paper when sylgard dries..

I'm thinking about pooring the sylgard first..then putting my strings of cells on top of sylgard..in an attempt to get rid of the air bubbles..I can hook the stings together after sylgard dries, then seal it all up.

The sylgard seems to take 3 or 4 days to dry and remains sticky even then..

Covering back of panels...
I mentioned before using that rubber paint coating (earlier post)..I think this would work well and they do sell the stuff in White in a 1 gallon can..about 65$. I figure, it would do 3 or 4 panels easy. I have not tried it yet

Another option for rear cover..Home depot sells a cheap bathroom shower wall kit (or at least they used to..its been years)
This kit was simply several large sheets of a white plastic..panel like sheets
This could just be siliconed in there..just to add a backing.

[DeltaFox 25]

I called Superior Essex to order my Sylgard but they told I had to get three of them . I did that because I knew I'd be using all of it sooner or later. I have decided to stick with 5X5 cell from now on and I'm going to make them 72 cell's . I already Have a Morningstar 60 amp MPPT Charge Controler and I have a 1000 watt inverter. I really need good batterys. I just have marine type batterys not solar.

[artificer]

DeltaFox 25:

Did you order your Sylgard from Superior Essex online or over the phone? I ordered online, and only ordered 2 units. $36.85 each, and $14.48 shipping for a total of $88.18.

I was looking for the Sylgard earlier, and found it at www.ellsworth.com. Their policy is $50 minimum order online, and $100 for service center (phone?) orders. Higher cost, but I only had to order one kit. Could be the same type of ordering policy with Superior Essex.

I picked up one of the Ebay auctions of (36) 6x6 cells. 3/16" tempered glass is available locally for $60.33 for 40"x40". All told, I should still be under $2/watt, and I don't have to spend a minimum of $500 or get a MPPT charger.

I plan on using a trowel with spacers to apply a thin film of the Sylgard, and then put down the cells. Cover with the remaining material. We'll see how it goes.

Michael