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How do we think they are doing now?

whjohnson
So, in a provocative curious mood on the eve of Easter w/end I began to wonder about PV panels.

There must be many by now which have been in service for 10 years or more.

How do we think they are doing in comparison to when they were new?

How does, or rather, what is a typical rate in efficiency fall-off over time?

My guess is that many, especially those installed on dwellings with difficult accessible roofs will not have been looked at nor cleaned for at least a decade if they have been in service for that long.


What do we reckon? Would a figure of say 50% or less be an unreasonable estimate of today's efficiency level for a decade old installation?

I wonder if Greta does a PV cleaning round in the same way window cleaners do?

Happy Easter.
  • 0
    I installed a large PV array about twenty years ago at a friends farm in Wales. It still works perfectly and produces about the same output as when new.

    This was a battery charging installation for off grid premises, but the fact remains that it still works well.
  • 0
    Nice one Broadage.


    It always worried me with FITS that the initial batch of companies would fade away after a few years and all guarantees worthless.

    Maybe I`m just a cynic. I do not trust Governments (including our own, of any persuasion)
  • 0
    ebee:

    Nice one Broadage.


    It always worried me with FITS that the initial batch of companies would fade away after a few years and all guarantees worthless.

    Maybe I`m just a cynic. I do not trust Governments (including our own, of any persuasion)


    And you'd be right.  Many of the installers did go bust.


    The government completely bungled the FIT scheme.  It was supposed to give us a successful UK solar industry.  But instead of tapering off the FIT subsidies slowly over a number of years, they cut it in big steps.  Every time the FIT was cut, all the customers disappeared until the falling price of solar panels made it viable again.  This produced a boom-and-bust cycle, and most of the installers didn't survive.


  • 0
    I am quite impressed by those data. What is the ball-park cost of an array nowadays? (I appreciate that the nature of the roof will have quite a bearing on the cost.)
  • 0
    PV modules are now about £1 a watt, so about £4,000 for a 4Kw array.

    Fixings, supports, cables, and labour are a bit variable but might average another £2,000 for a 4Kw array.

    Add another £2,000 for the grid tie inverter, AC wiring, switchgear, installation labour and paperwork.


    So in the region of £8,000 for the complete job. This is AN APPROXIMATION and costs vary a fair bit.

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