Business Stakes
- Solarge needed a certified product
- Solarge needed a patent
- Get to the next stage to attract new investments
Project at a Glance
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Challenge
- Adhesion problems
- Delamination at edges
- Certification needed
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Constraints
- Keep weight minimal
- Waterproof electronics
- Scalable manufacturing
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Approach
- Systematic adhesion testing
- Climate chamber validation
- Composite plug development
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Impact
- 2 patents granted
- Certification groundwork
- Investment milestone reached
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The Challenge
Solarge was developing their first product in 2018. I was asked to join the early Solarge team to speed up the development process. The main challenges were finding waterproof solutions to attach materials to the solar panels and stop the delamination at the sides of the panel.
The Stakes & Constraints
Technical Constraints
- Keep total weight as low as possible
- Water or moisture cannot reach electronics inside the solar panel
- Final solution must be manufacturable on a large scale
- Stop delamination at the sides
- Secure attachment to a roof
Phase 1: Adhesion and Delamination
Approach
- Research ways to attach materials to the panels
- Research ways to prevent delamination on the sides of the panel
1. Attach materials to the panels
Pull-off adhesion tests to validate bond strength of various tapes.
Test samples after climate chamber cycling. Validating adhesion durability under temperature and humidity stress.
Special composite plug that fuses directly with the panel.
Pull-off adhesion test for the plug.
Testing different variations in steps when applying the plug to the panel.
2. Stop delamination at sides of the panel
First tests to apply thin sheet of laminate using a heat source.
Test sample to melt substrate on side of panel.
Result
- After testing various adhesion possibilities only the special plug delivered the desired adhesion strength, ease of application and withstood the climate tests.
- Despite multiple tests for delamination, the tested solutions were unsuccessful. The tests did provide valuable learning for the next iterations.
Impact
2
Patents Granted
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Roofs Now Possible
1
Certified Product
Delivered
- Co-inventor for 2 Patents: 20220190773 & 20220059713
- Research on material adhesion and delamination prevention that laid groundwork for certification process
- Product renders for website
What Clients Say
"Stefan is an enthusiastic and driven designer, creative while also being very structured"
CSP Solarge & Co-founder
"Stefan fits perfectly into teams but can also work in autonomous settings when required"
CTO Solarge & Co-founder