Heat generated from solar panels

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tx2sturgis said:
Has anyone tried bonding the flexible panels to a sheet of coroplast (corrugated plastic) and then bond that to the surface of the trailer? 

With a bit of air in the 'flutes', this might work as a thermal barrier, or at least, a partial thermal barrier. 

I haven't tried this myself, but it might work...

Pardon me for quoting myself, but...apparently, this works.

I wonder if this guy reads this forum?



Even weirder, is that he also 'borrowed' my first name.

:dodgy:
 
Wouldn't it make sense to leave the front edge open, allowing wind to flow through the corrugation channels and thus keep things cooler?
 
Also, future_vandweller said earlier in this thread:

"This response is to all the posts in this thread on the topic of heat loss. There's a fundamental difference between how rigid, glass-on-top panels and flexible panels lose heat. The rigid panels lose heat thru the back since the 3 mm glass acts as a high resistance thermal path. Hence the recommendation for an air gap below the panel. Flexible panels lose heat thru the Sun facing side since the thick polymer backing acts as an insulator. Mounting flexible panels by gluing them to the support substrate is not going to limit their performance."

So if the thick polymer backing acts as an insulator, the corrugated flutes are not doing anything to dissipate heat because the heat supposedly has not passed from the panel all the way through the polymer backing? Isn't some heat actually going to make it through the polymer backing though? And if so, are the corrugated channels likely to help?
 
Of course some heat is going to make it through. I don't know of any insulation that is 100% effective. It is all a matter of how much. I put spacers behind my flexible panels for this reason.
 
Well scratch the flexable panels ended up going with house style 300w panels. Found a hook up to get them for $200ea. And mounted them with vhb tape and hinges so I can change the angle of them. Due to hight, once I get the parts around going to install actuators on them for tilt without having to find a ladder

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