Bob,
My follow-up as promised...
The sealant in my office is Dow Corning "Solar PV 804". The tube states it's
"Neutral silicone, non-corrosive". The sealant I have is black, but it's also
available in white.
As Brian mentioned below, this isn't an off-the-shelf product. We ordered some
and waited several weeks for it to arrive. He's also correct about at least
one aspect of the application usage .. it's used to attach junction boxes to
PV. Likely other purposes as well.
Dan
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Rip in panel backing
Brian
In my past life working for a module manufacturer, we used Dow Corning PV 804
silicone sealant. It comes in black and white flavors, usually not found off
the shelf at Home Depo. I believe it is the standard used by most module
manufacturers and the only silicon sealant that meets UL746 Polymeric materials
for electrical applications (Insulating tabs electrically). We experimented
with many types with similar results, but when UL listing a module you can only
use UL listed components (or you get to pay to perform those tests on that
material too!). The price of PV 804 reflects the UL listing. You would need
to ask a chemist at Dow Corning if it has a different composition than the
common off the shelf varieties. It is great stuff, sticks to everything
(especially opposite colored pants!) and moves well between two materials that
may expand and contract at different rates with varying temperatures, like a
module is often exposed to.
Bill
On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 4:51 PM, Brian Teitelbaum <bteitelb...@aeesolar.com>
wrote:
I like Blair’s idea, but I’ve always used a silicone sealant that doesn’t use
acetic acid as the curing agent. Dow #739 is one type, but any silicone sealant
that is rated as food-grade, or for aquariums, should work fine. The 739 is a
“moisture-cure”, 100% silicone, which uses moisture present in the air as the
curing agent. I was told many years ago that this is the stuff that is used by
module manufacturers to attach and seal module junction boxes and the exit
point in the laminate where the tabs come out. It would be great if a module
rep could confirm this with us.
Brian Teitelbaum
AEE Solar
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 5:49 AM
To: 'RE-wrenches'
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Rip in panel backing
I have a customer who just put a rip in the (tedlar?) on the back of a Solar
World 175 watt panel. For some reason he thought that he needed to move the leg
to a different hole on his RGM mount instead of just collapsing it.
What’s the best way to seal it back up?
There is no other internal damage that is noticeable its about 1.5” long and ½”
at the widest end.
My first thought is to use silicone caulk, but I thought I would pick the
collective brain, so to speak.
Thanks,
Bob Ellison
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