How long will solar panels last, anyways?
Solar panel technology is very old.
Photovoltaic cells was observed by scientists more than a century ago and the first time it reached 10% solar efficiency was as way back as the 1950s. With so much historical data available over the years, most solar panels are guaranteed by their manufacturers against performance defects for decades.
In other words, it is very mature.
Today, a solar panel should generally:
- Have a product life of 40 years;
- Be guaranteed against manufacturing defects for 10 years;
- Be guaranteed against performance defects for 25 years;
no more than 10% performance drop in 10 years;
no more than 20% performance drop in 20 years.
Almost Immortal
Unlike most consumer goods e.g. milk, solar panels do not need to be replaced when their warranties expire.
Solar panels:
- are made from sand
- have no moving parts that would break down or need to be replaced.
- will continue to produce solar electricity for many years to come; with slightly less efficiency than each previous year.
What can go wrong?
So, warranties are in place for a reason.
Solar panels can have manufacturing defects. One of the most common defect is called Potential Induced Degradation (PID).
PID is like cancer for solar panels that can cause the panel to drop up to 50% in performance. The good news is; its effects can be seen as early in the first or second year of using the panels; provided you have invested in the monitoring tools to detect the drop so that you can provide evidence and make a claim with the manufacturer instantly.
When the stakes are high, this is very very important.
One of my clients in Malaysia is earning an income of average RM 1.2 million selling solar electricity every year. By detecting the PID problem early, he was able to make a claim and have the panels replaced quickly.
The best manufacturers would provide a PID resistant certificate when selling their panels. But please note the word "resistant". To have a peace of mind, have your contractor to install a monitoring system and sign a service contract with them to do the monitoring for you.
Final thoughts
Solar power systems are generally much less complex electricity generators in comparison to their fossil-fuel based cousins (coal plants).
They have no moving parts, no engines and much less point of failures. Your solar panels do not need much upkeep apart from keeping it clean of dust, debris or snow.
But that does not mean solar power systems are immune to failure.
I hope you find this sharing helpful to your solar power experience.
Buzz
Hi, my name is Jason aka @buzz.lightyear. I envision a future where renewable energy is our main source of electricity in this lifetime; reducing the largest contributor of carbon emissions by 90% and bringing our global temperatures back to its natural balance.
I believe that this is no easy task but it is achievable with your support.
I am developing an open blockchain that incentivises both producers and consumers of renewable energy and am looking to collaborate with brilliant minds who share this vision so that we can create a future where it just makes sense to go 100% renewable, visit your local store, buy some latest tech and generate energy for your own use and for others.
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Keeping panels clean are a big plus to helping keep these panels efficient . In a big enough facility this could bring jobs . Unless of course the facility automated that process some how . I noticed mine were nearly yellow from the pollen this year.
Great post
Thanks @nokiasixteth. In Malaysia, labour costs are generally low hence it is cheaper to hire serviceman to do a proper cleaning of the panels annually as compared to investing into an automated sprinkler based cleaning system.
Here in the United States , We have kids that make us all look bad and cant flip a burger yet they want 15 per hour . People dont realize here that big corporations care only about the all mighty dollar no matter what they say. Once something is past there threshold where they become less efficient and profitable they will replaced by computers that you walk up to and Press exactly what you want and you dont have to send it back because its wrong . This is Bitter sweet. People later on wont be able to work until there 60 at Mcdonalds as a cashier making min wage but they will have higher paying jobs if they choose to learn how to work on these machines.
I get what you mean. In the past, bowling alley operators would hire people to restack the pins after each play. Today, they buy automated solutions hence those hires are not needed anymore.
I like my burgers medium rare.
Speaking of sprinkler based . My next set of panels when i put them up . I am going to do a little research on cooling the panels . Run some type heat exchange under the panels with quick connects so if a panel goes bad so i can pre heat my water and keep the panel cool all at the same time . I have great access to solar edge panel monitoring so it will be a good way to experiment. I do have concerns though on leaks from the uv that may not be pretty and a total waist of usability.
How hot can a solar panel get that would warrant running a heat exchange underneath them?
Will put a laser thermo on the bottom of my panels Monday to see a temp reading . I would like to know my self i felt the bottom side of mine in January was pretty warm so Im sure it will be much hotter than the 65 constant degrees that my water well produces . Figure it would be a decent experiment for preheating it before the water heater. And i would like to see if it would have any effect on power production have thought about the same thing with the 12 thermocoolers i have laying around.
Solar panel is the alternative to save energy. But maybe we have to spent much money to establish it first.
If we do it alone - very expensive.
We can be more efficient if we do it together.
Agree with you. That's why we need the community to support everything positive like change the alternative energy to solar panels.
This post has received a 1.66 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @buzz.lightyear.
good sharing! i have solar panel at home!
Nice! What kind do u have?
Electricity kind or water heating kind?
electricity ya
How has your experience been like? What made you install the solar panels at home?
So far so good. Passive income lo.
@janicechua One year later, I am making progress developing a cryptocurrency for rooftop solar power homeowners like you. We have now entered Phase 1 of the project - The Pioneer Round.
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