With research, panels sell the long term investment on their utility with good reason. So would help to know what “decades” means before buying.
To assess monetary worth, these panels do offer a guarantee of 25-30 years. Luckily, for buyers, it is not just marketing for profit. The technology for these devices shows it will continue to provide utility for even longer, as they just will not function at the same rate. A twenty-year-old panel will still be generating power, just not at the full capacity. This is known as degradation and it is estimated that a quality panel loses output at a rate of 0.05% annually. Most homeowners will never be able to perceptually assess the degradation will even be visually significant.
Most people will also be surprised to learn that what will likely fail the system first is not the panel.
The inverter is the weak link
The inverter is a critical external system that is what enables and facilitates the generation of power from the panels for serial use. Unfortunately, the most common rate of failure for inverters is 10-15 years. This actually is something worth considering, as it creates an additional cost of ownership for solar panels that is valued more than a common maintenance task.
The two major types of solar panels, which maintain their performance over time in the following ways, are:
- Monocrystalline panels tend to degrade the slowest and are the most common option in UK Roofs.
- Polycrystalline panels are cheaper to manufacture and show a marginally faster drop in output over the years
Long after your warranty runs out, both of these options will still produce electricity.
What really cuts a panel’s lifespan.
The most important type of panel installation is the quality of the installation. Bad mounting, bad sealing on the edges, or panels that are fitted at the wrong angle to a roof can all let moisture in or cause bad fittings to break over time. This is why you should definitely stick to an MCS-certified installer rather than whoever’s the cheapest. The goal of this certification is to make sure the work is done to a standard that protects the systems lifespan.
The UK weather is not as harsh as people like to assume. Panels are meant to withstand strong storms, and a bit of UK weather doesn’t cause any problems. They may generate less on that particular day, but the weather won’t damage them.
Do panels require much maintenance?
Solar panels don’t require much maintenance. Self-cleaning is an advantage of solar panels. Rain cleans them, and in some rare instances where there is too much dust or maybe bird droppings, an occasional manual clean will help. Most people will not manually clean their solar panels and it usually doesn’t even require it.
Don’t be discouraged and think of the life span of the panels when contemplating whether you should invest in solar systems for your home. The lifespan of the panels is a long twenty-five years. The solar panels are the most robust component of the solar energy system.