• Question: do you do any security checks to make sure the solar pannel will not blow up?

    Asked by Dee to Pete on 8 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Peter Burgess

      Peter Burgess answered on 8 Nov 2015:

      Yes!
      There are a bunch of ways solar panels can be damaged and there are tests for these which try to replicate the conditions which would lead to this damage. They don’t tend to explode, mostly they peel apart as the glue holding them together gets old, or the glass on the front of them breaks. They can start fires but that’s usually in the cables, not the panels themselves.
      One of the most violent tests for solar panels is probably the ‘hail test’ which is supposed to replicate the impact of big hailstones on the panels by smashing a heavy metal ball against them.
      There are also fire tests and the less exciting but still important damp heat tests. These are supposed to fit the conditions a panel might experience in its 20+ year life into about a month.
      If you want to know more about the tests solar panels have to go through, check out IEC 61215 or UL PV1701.

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