Still not sure how this happened... but the FLIR image is interesting. This is what solar panels look like in IR with shorted bypass diodes. Basically each cell group is just a short circuit.....
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Blown Bypass Diodes....
- Thread starter nwdiver
- Start date
So.... I'm not going to attempt to recreate this but I think I know how this happened. This is my 'toy' array that I laid down in my backyard and just fools around with to get a feel for how different angles and orientations change the output. There were 8 panels in series and only the back 4 had shorted bypass diodes. The difference between the rows was the front row was J-box up so it was slightly elevated while the back row was J-box down so was very close to the ground and some grass had actually grown up around the J-Box (where the diodes are) insulating it. I think the accumulation of heat resulted in the diodes shorting. So... yeah... don't lay your solar panels down in grass 
In other words, don't let the grass grow between your diodes. LOL
I saw an interesting solution to that at a solar farm while traveling in Denmark. They mounted the panels high enough off the ground so that sheep could graze on the grass underneath the panels.
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Tex EV
Member
A couple years ago, a lightning strike to my chimney blew out the diodes on 33/45 panels near it. Original installer didn't want to deal with it and wanted to throw random parts and possibly new panels up. Had fun replacing the diodes myself and restored the system. Total cost was maybe $100.
This was the worst one. Had burn marks and the diodes were split.
This was the worst one. Had burn marks and the diodes were split.
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Mine are in slightly worse shape because the problem went undiagnosed for so long. The J-boxs were basically cooking. Every day for >2 months they were probably ~250F for a couple hours...
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