Most new solar panels retain 80% production after 30 years

Most new solar panels retain 80% production after 30 years

A five-year Sandia Labs study on solar module degradation shows that 13 out of 23 tested module types have effective lifetimes exceeding 30 years.

The US Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories has concluded a five-year, early-life solar module degradation study that examined 834 fielded PV modules, representing 13 types from seven manufacturers in three climates.

The report, recently published in Progress in Photovoltaics, studied 23 systems in total. Six of the studied were determined to have degradation rates that will exceed panel warranty limits in the future, while 13 systems demonstrated the ability to extend their lifetime beyond 30 years. “Lifetime” in this study is defined as the amount of time a panel produces electricity above 80% of its beginning-of-life rate.

The report said that module costs have fallen by 85% since 2010 due to economies of scale, higher efficiencies in cell designs, production line automation, larger modules, and changes to bill of materials components like backsheets. It said that lower costs have led to solar becoming a central part of energy infrastructure buildout today, but noted that cost-cutting design and material changes could lead to a lowered degradation rate, which in-turn could cancel out many of the positive results of lower module costs.

Read the full story from PV Magazine here.