damaged my solar panel...

[starchy]

finally putting 'em up this week and of course i managed to scrape the back of one whilst drilling a bolt hole. haven't tested it w/ a multimeter yet. ya'll have any experience w/ panels damaged like this?

 

[Symbioquine]

It's probably fine unless you went all the way through the backing material or got unlucky enough to cause a crack bad enough to damage some of the solar cell connections.

If you look at write-ups like this one, you can make an educated guess about which layers or kinds of damage are likely to impact the panel's electrical properties right away and which are likely to impact the panel's life-expectancy/weather-proofing/etc.

For future reference, there are tools to prevent this from happening. Consider either using one of these and/or a drill press.

 

[starchy]

here's what it looks like on the other side. the light does show through a bit. couldn't use my drill press i needed a big flat surface as opposed to a tiny platform. i put a piece of plywood there to protect but of course it slipped out of the way when i needed it. can't really get if flush with the corner cuz of the silicone. i'll set something heavy on it next time.

 

[starchy]

another shot.

 

[Symbioquine]

here's what it looks like on the other side looks like.

That doesn't look so good... I'm not sure I'd bet on that still producing full output... Good luck!

 

[sunshine]

Shine a light through from the front in the dark. Or just the sun from within a doorway and observe from the back.
You can see the grid and if there are any actual breaks.
In that area a break would not cause a problem. Even a break to the main tape going up to the main 'bus bar' can be fixed.
Just seal over with silastic sealant although I've seen specialist PV sealant advertised.