Solar Panel Coatings

The research the Glass Committee of the IWCA has been focusing on is regarding the issue of scratches on glass not glass coatings. So what of solar panels? Check out this article. https://energy.gov/articles/glass-coating-makes-solar-panels-more-efficient You can plainly see from the picture here that we are actually working on a first surface hydrophobic coating. Not glass. Although as you can see from the article that a similar chemistry to glass is included in creating the coating. The bottom line here is that these coatings MUST be preserved in order to maintain the increased margin of energy efficiency of the panels. If ‘they’ are scratched, or chemically degraded, or mechanically removed by some polishing technique then this becomes more than an aesthetic problem. It will have a direct effect on the monetary value of the panels over many years to come.

The work the Glass Committee is working on is indeed critical to our bottom line because of all the scratched glass issues we as a global industry have been confronted with for many years now. Further I am nothing less than thrilled with the scientific progress that has been made. This progress in understanding the true nature of scratched glass we can take to the field in avoiding the problem and educating our current and potential customers. Especially builders and general contractors. But. As you can see here there are other issues that must also be addressed such as glass coatings.

Come go with me friends.

Henry

Id be interested to know how many companies here have had issues with scratching glass.

What was the cost to repair/replace

I have personally had trouble with scratched glass. Both tempered and annealed. It has repeatedly been an issue over the 37 years I have been cleaning windows. The worst case involved my landlords home. Fortunately I was able to remove these scratches from annealed glass with a cerium oxide. I am guessing if everyone was brutally honest almost everyone would claim that they have had at least one issue with scratched glass. Fortunately also I have never had to replace any windows.

These days I am far more careful. But I am also doing almost exclusively storefronts. So the work is quite repetitive. Not too much blade work.

Not many exterior coatings (first surface) either. Just one job that I can think of. And I would NEVER touch that surface with a blade.

Henry

I was asking because I have never heard directly from a person who scratched glass to the point of replacement.

So much controversy over scratch waivers and insurance covering it but no real life situations where glass was replaced.

I have questions

There a few threads here in the archives, where companies have had to replace $1000’s of dollars of Windows because of scratched glass.

Yes indeed. You catch them once in awhile. I consulted with a local window cleaner here in my state who lost a smaller amount. 4,000 bux for four sliding glass doors. It definitely happens. This is something we would like to see happen. A tab of these situations!

Henry