MACH II is Complete
I wrapped up the “MACH II” today. Everything was looking good until I dropped it while framing it and put a crack in the corner of the glass 
. However, the cells are still in tact and it is still working. It’s ok, the MACH II was only another prototype anyway. I will apply the lessons learned to the MACH III.
Here is what needs improvement as of now:
1. I need to rebuilt the jig for soldering together the cells. There was too much wiggle room in the last one and the cells weren’t perfectly aligned. This causes the cells to not lay down completely flat against the glass because the wire between the cells sometimes buckles a wee bit when things don’t line up perfectly. It also looks a little shabby.
2. I used a heat gun to bake the EVA around the cells. This approach is -=not=- a good one. There was lots of bubbling and blistering, and the heated EVA is plastic, sticky, and not something one can work with during the process. A vacuum table is the way to go, so if I want to work with EVA in the future, I have to find a way to DIY a vacuum table.
3. I’ll probably scale up the MACH III so that it is as large as a commercial panel.
Here are two pictures. The first is prior to baking the EVA, and the second shows the finished product.
