If you are able to remove all the broken glass it might be possible to replace it with a new piece but the hard part will keeping water from condensing inside and fogging the new glass.
Will a solar panel work if the glass is cracked.
Solar panel glass is incredibly strong.
This doesn t happen often but understanding what can compromise the integrity of your solar panels could help you prevent potential damage.
But even if the solar cells behind are not damaged not nearly as much light can get to them due to.
This is how larry coles repaired a solar panel whose glass had been shattered.
The panel was still giving good current however with the broken glass water would have quickly worked its way in and started corroding the components.
At first i believed i could just remove the smashed glass and replace it however after more research i discovered the solar cells and attached to the glass so removal is not an option.
But broken glass will cause two problems.
When tempered glass was damaged panel still works fine and could be used as it is.
So don t just just throw the broken panel away at least check it for output first.
When the glass of a solar panel breaks it breaks into many small pieces but because the tempered glass has glue on the inside face the many small pieces stay in place.
Thanks to larry for sharing his solution here.
However although the glass is designed to withstand heavy use it can break.
I had a new solar panel propped up against a tree and it got knocked down by the wind and shattered psa don t do this.
The shattered glass rendered the panel no longer weatherproof so larry used some uv resistant plastic to reseal it details below.
It s also possible the panel will still work even with the broken glass in place though with reduced output from the shade from the broken glass edges.
There are a lot of videos and tutorials with different fixes but this was the simplest most effective and longest lasting fix with no loss is quality of the panels.