The equipment serves as the core of a business as they are the products on which the whole business is based.
But having zero knowledge in the equipment you planning to invest in is something that can cost you your whole money!
Thus, keeping your eyes wide open about the cost, maintenance, and working of your equipment is very important.
Taking this into consideration, we have curated the following blog that focuses on Commercial Solar Panel!
Solar Panel has been a favorite choice for business owners these days, but what makes it a little risky to invest in it is the lack of knowledge about the common solar panel defects and how to prevent them.
These defects when ignored and not mended often lead to degradation that can cause you serious losses.
Thus, what we suggest is you having a look below, and note down all the major points before investing in a solar panel.
Let us first start with telling how long a solar panel lasts before we tell you how they degrade and how you can prevent that from happening.
How Long Does A Solar Panel Last?
To be more precise, the solar panel efficiency is the divide in two phases,
- one phase is the first 25-30 years which is the useful life, and
- the other phase is posted 25 years.
Now the phase after 25 years can see your solar panel degrading or working amazingly!
Now many of you might not know what “Useful life” signifies, so let us clear that out.
Most of the equipment doesn’t produce their 100% efficiency throughout the year. The same thing goes with a solar panel which produces its results for 30 years and then stops working.
But they don’t stop their production abruptly, you will see a slow gradual change in their efficiency.
FOR EXAMPLE, as you will see most of the companies offer a guarantee over their solar panel that changes as time passes. This gradual decrease in solar panel’s efficiency is called degradation.To summarise it we would say, that your solar panel will go on producing electricity but not as efficiently as it once did.
Now the term degradation is what we will focus on in our further sections to help you understand the working of solar panels better.
This will help you cut down the losses that the solar panel failure causes.
What Is Solar Panel Degradation?
The solar panel gradually start showing lesser production of electricity while using the same amount of sunlight.
Now what we need to talk about is why does this happens.
The reason could be some external factors like weather that causes wear down of the panels.
One of the major reasons why the commercial solar panel degradation occurs is the crack that forms in the silicon of the solar cells.
These microcracks are responsible for causing issues with the electrical connections reducing the paths for electrons to take from the sun, and thus less energy is produced.
Some other issues could be junction box adhesion failure or discoloration.
Now the problem in maintaining solar panels is that the causes of this degradation could be anything and thus finding a solution is tough.
But there is nothing much to worry about, as different solar panel companies are coming up with great ideas to lower the commercial solar panel degradation while maintaining your power output.
Apart from this, your solar panels are labeled with caution warning of a specific rate below which your solar panel shows degradation.
Altogether, your investment goes right and the deal stays profitable.
With that being said, let us have a close look at the causes of this degradation to help you know what has gone wrong with your solar panel or what could go wrong in future.
What Causes The Solar Panel Degradation?
As you already saw above that there could be more than one way that causes commercial solar degradation.
One of them was microcracks.
The question here is what exactly lead to microcracks.
The question here is what exactly lead to microcracks. The answer could be Thermal Cycling/ During Hot Weather, everything expands and at normal temperature, everything comes back to normal.
This is not something that entertains solar panels leading to cracks.
Another reason could be strong winds that lead to flexing of the panel causing serious load on it.
But this can be prevented by installing quality solar panels and getting them fixed by experts.
Since many of you might wonder, if even sunlight is dangerous for your panel, the here goes the answer.
Now what do you think how do solar panels work?
It’s obviously the sunlight!
But dear readers, sunlight can actually be the biggest contributor to your solar panel degradation, until your panel uses UV protecting shields.
Let’s be little precise with that by giving you a fact:
Most of the solar panels show their first degradation hours after installation when they are exposed to sunlight for the first time.
This degradation could range from 1 to 3% but don’t worry it slows down after that.
Altogether, the solar panel degradation rate comparison before and after 30 years shows a huge difference, thus you don’t have to be stressed immediately after installing it.
Talking about the degradation rate, are you curious to know how fast your solar panel would degrade?
Let us quench your curiosity then.
At What Rate Does Solar Panel Show Degradation?
This is also backed up by Solar panel degradation comparison done on several companies offering a guarantee of 90% efficiency in the first few years and going down to 80% by 25 years.
But,
A study conducted by The National Renewable Energy Laboratory shows a little accurate picture of this degradation.
According to the study that shows a study on around 2000 solar panels in various weather patterns showed a degradation rate of 0.4% which is almost half of the rate showed in guarantees!
Thus, your panel would go on for several years that you can imagine.
But its still a question on what would happen after 30 years of the useful life?
We have that sorted too!
What happens after using solar panels for 30 years?
Since useful life just signifies the guarantee period of solar panel’s efficiency it doesn’t mean that your panel won’t provide you with electricity after the end of useful life.
The panels would continue to produce electricity however at a lower level.
Degradation is a part of the normal functioning of the solar panel and cannot be reversed. The degradation cannot be stopped but can definitely be slowed down.
This helps in extending the life of these panels.
Let us see how.
How To Extend The Life Of Your Solar Panels?
The money that solar panel cost is worth every penny as it brings you savings that would blow your mind.
Moreover, the panels are versatile and you will be impressed with the number of solar the panel uses you can afford within such a price.
But here what we need to try is enhance the quality of result you get with the investment made in solar panels.
And what could be a better way of increasing output if not extending the life span of the equipment.
Let us see how we can do so!
Extending your solar panel does not ask for much since all its parts are immovable. The best thing you can do to extend your solar panel’s life is to get it installed perfectly.
What you need to do is make sure you are working with experts, who can install the system in long run and take utmost care while doing so.
The installation process plays a vital role in determining the useful life of your product.
Another thing to keep in mind is the location where you want to install your solar panel.
Make sure you don’t get it installed at a location prone to physical damages like trees that can be blown strong by the winds.
The next thing you need to do is choose the right company that offers you easy and quality installation along with neat maintenance.
And who can do it better than Top Solar Quote!
Top solar quote provides you the best and updated quote upon all solar panel and solar energy.
All you need to do is fill the form and book a quote to get the best out of your solar panels!