The only thing that you really have to worry about with homemade solar panels is sealing them up good. Since there are no moving parts in solar panels the only thing that can really damage them is water. Let's take a look at how to protect your panels.

When I build my solar panels I have a couple tricks that I use to make sure that no water gets in. I often joke with people that you could throw them into a lake for a year, bring them back out, wipe them off and they'd work perfect. How do I accomplish this?

Well, the solar cells are laid out in a grid. I put silicone around each cell as well as a nice thick bead around the outer edges of the cells. The silicone between the cells is to isolate each cell. If water possible gets in one cell it's not going to damage the whole panel. The thick bead of silicone around the outside works well at keeping the water out as well.

The other thing that this does is eliminate pretty much any air that could be in the panel. When your backing goes on all of the air gets pushed out. I have seen designs that say drill a little hole in the bottom of the panel to let moisture out, but this can also let moisture in. By eliminating any air in the panel you no longer need this hole. This method also saves money. There is some clear plastic that is also used to seal the cells up, but it's expensive so I don't like using it.

Instead of using glass for the face of the panel I use plexiglass. Why? Well, the simple reason is that glass can crack or break. "But won't plexiglass scratch?" Yes it does... but so does glass. Plexiglass can also take quite a beating and not break. If you get a big hailstorm you could be looking at a couple cracked panels with glass, but plexiglass will just shrug it off.

The last step in securing the panels against weather is "J" flashing. I use some adhesive silicone and glue it to the sides of the panel. It serves two purposes... adding another seal to the panel, but it also pretties it up.

There you go, you have a better idea of how to protect your solar panels from weather damage.