A second life for solar panels with glass defects
A common complaint is that a solar panel with broken glass is ready for the scrap heap. However, Mathijs Tas, a recent graduate from Utrecht University, has shown that there is another way: such damage can indeed be repaired while maintaining the energy performance of the panel. The inspiration for this came from an unexpected source, namely the automotive industry. Mathijs Tas is a co-founder of the company Boldz. "I started it alongside my studies with the aim of giving solar panels with glass breakage a second life. After several unsuccessful tests, I got in touch with Leon Bruinen from the solar energy company SolSolutions. He pointed me to the technique used by auto repair shops: repairing damaged car windows with a synthetic resin." - Filling in the Cracks. Tas emphasizes that it is not sufficient to simply fill in a crack in a solar panel with this resin. "You also need to make sure that no water seeps through afterwards, and the panel must continue to do what it was designed for, namely generating electricity." What was initially intended as a paid assignment turned into a graduation research project at SolSolutions, resulting in an article in a scientific journal and graduation under the supervision of Professor Wilfried van Sark , a specialist in the field of solar panels at Utrecht University. Technical support for the research was provided by TNO and glass repair company FalkService. There is already interest in this application from operators of large solar parks in France and India. A First. Taking a page from the automotive industry seems so simple. Why has this never been done before?
