Wednesday 28 March 2012

Glass Panels

Solar panel glass is extremely important for anyone who is looking to build their own solar panels or if you're looking to repair broken ones. There are two different types of glass that you can use and each one has its pros and cons. The two different types of glass that you can use is tempered and regular plate glass.
Tempered glass has several advantages when used in solar panels. Mainly, since tempered glass is quite a bit stronger than regular plate glass that means the panel can stand up to a serious beating. I've seen tempered glass panels fall or roofs and not break... you wouldn't be able to do that with regular plate glass.




The other reason that tempered glass is generally used is the fact that it doesn't suffer from what's known as clouding. You see, over time plate glass gets cloudy and this will reduce the amount of power that the panel produces. Although I've never done a test to see what the difference is in power generation I don't think the added cost is worth it for a DIY panel or a panel you're trying to repair.
Plate glass on the other hand is probably the best bet for a DIY panel or a panel you're trying to repair. It's cheap and sometimes you can get it for free. To be honest I've never paid a cent for any of the panels that we've built and I'll share my little secret with you here.



No comments:

Post a Comment