Bypass diodes are typically Schottky diodes because of their low forward voltage drop. When I opened up the junction box on the rear of the solar panel, I was surprised to find the junction box was filled by the solar panel manufacturer with silicone caulk. This seems to be a rare occurrence, but something I had to deal with nonetheless. I was able to remove it by carefully scraping the worst of the caulk out with a small chisel and the applying isopropyl alcohol, and finally using a small screwdriver to remove the last tiny bits of caulk off the backplane of the junction box.
The photo below shows the junction box after I cleaned out the silicone caulk:
The bypass diodes are the three small black square items. These particular diodes are surface mount Schottky diodes. If you have this kind of bypass diode, just leave them in the junction box and simply cut the leads. They come out of one side of the package, just make sure that you remove all of the loose leads that were cut off so you don’t short out your solar panel.
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