{"id":26751,"date":"2019-01-22T07:01:07","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T20:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=26751"},"modified":"2025-07-29T09:37:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T00:07:33","slug":"solar-panel-degradation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-panel-degradation\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Solar Panels Degrade Over Time? Yes, But Not By Much"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Solar<\/p>\n

Solar panels are amazing things.\u00a0 They cut pollution, save planets, and — by draining its power — move us closer to humanity’s ancient dream of destroying the sun.\u00a0 But they’re not quite perfect.\u00a0 If you happen to buy the cheapest panels you can get your hands on I’m sure you’ll soon find they can be very far from perfect.\u00a0 So bloody far you’ll need a goddamn spaceship to get there.<\/p>\n

But if you limit yourself to buying panels we have reason to believe are good quality, such as those on our solar panel comparison table<\/a> or the graphic below from our Solar 101 Guide<\/a>, then the odds are you’ll get something decent:<\/p>\n

\"Recommended<\/p>\n

All these panels will slowly degrade in output as they age.\u00a0 But, unlike some, I’m certain the performance warranties1<\/a><\/sup> from the brands above actually mean something.\u00a0 At minimum these warranties promise the panels will still have at least 80% of their nominal capacity2<\/a><\/sup> after 25 years.\u00a0 But if you pay extra for the very best performance warranty, which comes with Sunpower’s<\/a> X and E series panels, it states they will have 92% or more of their nominal capacity after 25 years.<\/p>\n

\"Warranted<\/p>\n

Fortunately, just because performance warranties set minimum outputs that doesn’t mean the actual outputs will hug close to them.\u00a0 Predicting just how much solar panels will degrade over a quarter of a century is tricky, so performance warranties include a margin of error.\u00a0 As time goes by evidence is mounting that, on average, panels can be expected to exceed their performance minimums with a reasonable margin of safety.<\/p>\n

This is for panels of decent quality.\u00a0 Crap panels can fall apart after a few years and you’ll have a hard time getting warranty support from a crap panel manufacturer.\u00a0 You can expect them to provide about as much support as a cardboard couch in the waiting room of a sumo wrestling ring.<\/p>\n

In this article I’ll quickly cover the causes of panel degradation, explain how performance warranties work, and provide evidence solar panels can go the distance.<\/p>\n

Causes Of Solar Panel Degradation<\/h2>\n

Panels slowly decline in output over the years<\/a> as tiny cracks develop in the silicon solar cells — known as microcracks — and electrical connections deteriorate.\u00a0 If degradation becomes severe it can lead to a runaway effect where damage begets damage causing panel deterioration to accelerate; rapidly resulting in complete failure.\u00a0 Fingers crossed this won’t happen to any solar panel you purchase within its performance warranty period.<\/p>\n

The main contributors to panel deterioration are:<\/p>\n