945-watt solar panels from Kyocera that were first installed in 1992 by Hespul were recently tested by Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (which is connected to the State Solar Research Institute INES — and the certification laboratory CERTISOLIS) to determine how much their performance had degraded.
20-year-old installation of Kyocera solar modules in France still performs with a high power output level (Photo: Business Wire)
The evaluators found that, after 20 years, the panels’ power production declined by only 8.3%. The electricity generation capacity of solar panels gradually decreases with time, of course, as the sun beats down on them. But the general projection is that they degrade a lot more in 20 years than this test shows — almost all evaluations of the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of solar panels use a 20-year lifespan (which assumes they will be out of use after 20 years).
Due to the gradual nature of deterioration, this means that the panels could last many more years before becoming useless.
Further illustrating their high quality and reliability, Kyocera’s solar modules were the first in the world to be certified by TUV Rheinland’s Long-Term Sequential Test. TUV is an organization that provides technical, safety, and quality certification services.
Source: Business Wire
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