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Long term degradation and manufacturer warranty for such is indeed a factor. There's a number of poly and monocrystalline Si 156mm cell based PV modules now whi
by walrus01 4y ago
Long term degradation and manufacturer warranty for such is indeed a factor. There's a number of poly and monocrystalline Si 156mm cell based PV modules now which are warranted for something like 83% of their original STC rated output after 25 years. Of course you have to also believe that the manufacturer will still be around in the same corporate form in 25 years and able to honor its warranty.
This certainly may not be the case if you follow PV industry news and are aware of how many PV panel manufacturers have formed as startups and gone bankrupt in the last 8 to 14 years.
edit: the other reply here in the thread asks:
> but can be replaced as a layer every, say, 5 years or so? It's not trivial maintenance, but you have to do some maintenance on the panels anyway
Typical mass market PV panels are cells permanently encapsulated behind glass sandwiched with a back sheet, it is not practical or possible to replace a layer or modify the cells once they're assembled into a panel. The only maintenance done on a series of ground or roof mounted typical PV panels is to wash them.
- jacquesm 4y ago> Of course you have to also believe that the manufacturer will still be around in the same corporate form in 25 years and able to honor its warranty. I just bought 26 AEG panels for exactly that reason. They were a bit more expensive but my estimate is that AEG will outlive me so that should be fine. Contrast with many other solar panel producers who seem to go out of business ever five years or so.
- walrus01 4y agoOut of curiosity what did you pay for them?
- jacquesm 4y ago225 euros each; but prices have since been going up considerably due to shortages: https://www.zonnepanelen-store.nl/aeg-as-m1202z-bhm6-365hv-glas-glas-365w-mono-zwart.html https://www.zonnepanelen-store.nl/aeg-as-m1202z-bhm6-365hv-g...
- VaxWithSex 4y agoAEG is just a brand?
- jacquesm 4y agoIt is to me... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEG These panels are produced by AEG Industries: https://www.aeg-industrialsolar.de/about-us/ https://www.aeg-industrialsolar.de/about-us/ A licensee of the AEG brand from Electrolux aka The Solar Solutions Group.
- jacquesm 4y agoAh I see what you mean now, that was in the context of that it will outlive me, sorry! In that sense 'Volvo' is also 'just a Brand', as is 'Audi' and many others. Still, that's what people will refer to.
- conradev 4y agoMaxeon extended their warranty this year in select markets to 40 years, which is pretty cool: https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2022/02/04/maxeon-40-year-solar-panel-warranty-available-in-select-markets/ https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2022/02/04/maxeon-40-year-solar-...