Solar Panel Lifespan...

Just got some flexi-panels for my BOV and was wondering on what the lifespan was for them...

Some say AT LEAST 20 years, others a century and beyond!
Anyone ever had them fail or lose 50% + efficiency??

reply to post by WatchRider

I would have checked that out before buying them, but that me.

I want to do the solar panel thing but I suck at soldering lol I'll go old school nothing beats old school

I dont know about the flex panels but the pv;s we just put up were schudeled to retain about 80% over 20 years. This was a commercial grade panel on a tracking system. One thing I did learn, When you lay it out, leave a air space under it if possible as the heat build up effects there output.

Originally posted by David134
I dont know about the flex panels but the pv;s we just put up were schudeled to retain about 80% over 20 years. This was a commercial grade panel on a tracking system. One thing I did learn, When you lay it out, leave a air space under it if possible as the heat build up effects there output.

wouldn't the ridges on metal roofing offer the needed airspace for cooling ?
at least that's my gameplan

My starting point is : i will attempt to replicate the solar panel array that the guy George Ury published on the web about 6-7 months ago for appox $11K (i have the piece 'saved' for reference)--> George is the other half of half-past-human team




ADD: from saved info:

...
I think Dave Shapiro is still with them - (305) 358-7601. They do system quotes if you're not up to it. Peoplenomics subscribers can go reread Peoplenomics #362, from August of 2008 for details on how we designed and built-out our system here which is a modest 3.5kW of panels, a couple of 2 kW sine waves grid tied, etc. And been quite happy with the Interstate 6-volt golf cart batteries. All 16 of them (eight per bank).

thats a reference source from several angles....

Originally posted by mytheroy
reply to post by WatchRider

 

I would have checked that out before buying them, but that me.

I want to do the solar panel thing but I suck at soldering lol I'll go old school nothing beats old school

edit on 1-5-2012 by mytheroy because: (no reason given)

I'm talking in general longetivity, I have 20 years warranty plus know it's a long time, but I'm talking long term dude.

What stuff to maintain them etc etc

The old school, Doped Silicon photovoltaics generally last about 20-30 years, after which they lose around 50% of their energy output... but after that, I believe they still work perfectly fine.

The output power of many panels slowly degrades at about 0.5%/year.

en.wikipedia.org...

ijuancarlo.wordpress.com...

And here is a pretty informative article:

Crystalline modules are typically designed for a 30-year operational lifetime. Manufacturers perform accelerated life-cycle testing during the design phase to predict module longevity in the field. The actual silicon cells used in modules have an infinite life span and show no degradation after decades of use. However, module output can decrease over time. This performance degradation is the result of two main factors—the slow breakdown of a module’s encapsulant (typically ethylene vinyl acetate; EVA) and back sheet (typically polyvinyl fluoride films), as well as the gradual obscuration of the EVA layer between the module’s front glass and the cells themselves.

Module encapsulant protects the cells and internal electrical connections against moisture ingress. Because it’s impossible to completely seal out moisture, modules actually “breathe” to a very small degree.

The trapped moisture eventually leads to corrosion at the cell’s electrical connections, resulting in higher resistance at the affected connections and, ultimately, decreased module operating voltage.

homepower.com...

So.. it looks like it's TECHNICALLY a solvable problem... although a tedious fix...