UPDATE: CIGS Solar Panels After 1.5 Years of Abuse
- Adam Morris
- 29 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Note: I/we are not sponsored by any companies mentioned in this article. We cruise full time on our test bed, SV Confianza, and we enjoy sharing our tests and opinions to give back to the community.
After 1.5+ years of use, our BougeRV (not sponspored nor an affiliate) CIGS solar panels are still holding up well and producing excellent results in our frequently shaded environment, with only one small concern that I’m keeping an eye on.
When we published our original CIGS test, the response was generally some version of: The results look great, but come back in a few years and tell us whether the panels are still alive.
Point taken. Flexible panels of all types do not exactly have the best track record.
Jump to...
If you missed the original article, which was also featured by Practical Sailor, I suggest starting there first: Testing CIGS Solar Panels: Are Most of Us Holding Onto an Inferior Technology?
Here is a sample of the feedback we received on Facebook: "Wouldn’t the new panels cook the same way as old ones did?"
"Please do all of us a favour and come back to this post every year to give us an update..."
"With flexible panels it’s not how they perform new. It’s about performance 2 or 3 years later. Unfortunately even the better brands experience pretty drastic deterioration in performance over time."
"I will look forward to yearly updates on output. They are potentially a great advancement if only they can sort out this rapid degradation issue."
Bad Experiences with CIGS
I believe a lot of folks have valid concerns with CIGS due to reading bad experiences with certain Rich Solar products. Here’s just a sample of reports:
standardhuman, DIY Solar Forum: “Definitely degraded (more than 50% drop in voltage),” and “the delamination, as well as the burn marks, have worsened significantly.” [See the full report and photos.]
Another DIY Solar Forum owner: “Avoid Rich Solar if you can.” The owner said “all four of the CIGS panels” had delaminated from the front material. [See the discussion.]
Will Prowse, the solar guru himself: “Another flex panel has died. Massive delamination and reduced output.” [See his report.]
There are many more reports like this, so I can understand why people would be leery of a flexible CIGS panel.
However, we're not seeing anything like that with the BougeRV CIGS (reminder: not sponsored nor an affiliate) after almost 2 years of use.
How They're Holding Up
The surface of the panels appears quite intact. The panels have about the same feel as they did when new, and I can't observe any visible defects over the cells. They could probably use a decent cleaning though!
There's no cloudiness appearing as we've seen in our previous iterations of flexible solar panels. The entire surface is still nice and shiny.
The slight "bubble" from left to right that you're seeing has been there since install. It appears that you should really stretch the panel out as you're sticking the backing foam pads to the deck.
The backing is very sticky. During the install, we were too concerned with dropping them in the right place, and we didn't think to ensure that they were fully stretched out. It hasn't affected the panel as far as I can tell.
Showing Signs of Age?
One area of concern that I will keep an eye on: one edge of the panels are leeching a bit. Giving it a rub produces some black residue.
This is likely carbon black pigment that is freed up from UV degredation. The underlying surface is not tacky. Hopefully this doesn't accelerate and make a mess.
I notice this same thing happening with our synthetic rubber seals on our Portlights from UV degredation. Our portlight seals are still going strong after 21 years while exhibiting this behavior. However, the carbon black does streak during rain and stains right into the wax on the hull.
It does not appear to have any effect on the panels thus far.
Do We Walk on Them?
I've tried to avoid it, but it's not always possible. We're up there tucking away the main sail and dealing with line tangles. I know I've definitely stepped on them multiple times. We do try not to walk on them.
A Challenger Appears: Smaller with Same Shading Protection?
I've talked to a number of folks who have decided to go with the BougeRV Arch Pro line of panels rather than the CIGS. These are interesting panels. They have a similar number of bypass diodes, so should give similar (if not better) shading advantages.
The upside is that they're roughly 20-23% smaller.
The possible downside is that they are a more traditional mono-crystalline flexible panel, albeit a pretty advanced one. That means that they should be more susceptible to cell cracking and metal interconnection issues from concentrated step-ons or flexing.
However, if the size difference means that you can fit an entire extra panel on your roof, I'd be hard pressed to disagree with that decision.
Wrapping Up
So far, so good. The panels are holding up well so far, and the output is still crushing the previous SunPower flexible panels.
I believe we're going to get more than our money's worth with these panels. The BougeRV Arch Pro panels are also very interesting, but I lean towards the CIGS so long as you have the extra space to fit them.
If you've got experience experience with either panel (or similar panels), drop a comment!
