Solar Panel Efficiency Degradation

Solar site assessors use these rates.

Solar panel efficiency degradation.

That s backed up by the solar panel manufacturer s warranty which guarantees 90 production in the first ten years and 80 by year 25 or 30. On average solar panels degrade at a rate of 1 each year. The highest efficiency solar panels on the market today can reach almost 23 percent efficiency. Degradation rates are used in solar site assessments in order to estimate the energy production over the life of a system and to calculate the payback period and return on investment.

Those panels could retain 96 of their production capabilities after 20 years. Factors that affect solar panel efficiency. Solar panel degradation rates are constantly improving as solar panel technology gets better over the years and degradation rates below 1 are common throughout the industry. Efficiency renewable energy operated by the alliance for sustainable energy llc.

Degradation of a pv module or system is equally important because a higher degradation rate. On average today s solar panels have a 15 to 18 solar efficiency rate the best pvs have as high as a 22 conversion rate. Some even boast degradation rates of closer to 0 3 percent. In other words after 1 year your solar panel will produce 99 2 percent of the energy it did when it was new.

In the years since this 2012 study was conducted more efficient technologies have been developed and many newer panels have just a 0 5 percent yearly decline in energy. So each solar panel would be tested based on its beginning. This is how much of the light energy falling on the panel gets converted into electrical energy. These days panels are typically around 17 efficient.

For many panels this is given as 2 to 3 in the first year and then 0 7 a year after that but it can be as low as 0 25 a year for some. Solar panel efficiency is a measure of the amount of solar energy irradiation which falls on a panel surface and is converted into electricity due to the many recent advances in solar cell technology over the last 5 years average panel conversion efficiency has increased from 15 to 20. The average efficiency of solar panels falls between the 17 to 19 percent efficiency range. Solar panels have been consistently increasing in efficiency at about 5 annually since 2010.

And the weight of the solar panels was low. More expensive solar panels will likely have a far lower degradation. However a study conducted by the national renewable energy laboratory nrel shows a more accurate picture of solar panel degradation. After 10 years it will produce 92 percent of the energy it did when it was new.

For most tier 1 solar panels the degradation rate is 30 meaning that each year the panels performance is reduced by 30.