French study reveals surprising longevity of photovoltaic panels
Many people are convinced that after 15-20 years, a home photovoltaic installation will be so inefficient that it is not worth investing in. However, the data contradict this belief. The French studied the efficiency of panels after 31 years of operation, and the results were better than expected.
In Tuesday's edition, the newspaper wrote that photovoltaic users fear what will happen to their panels after 15 years of operation when the support system ends and efficiency drops. However, the lifespan of the panels may be much higher than previously assumed. There is, however, a real risk that they will need to pay for their disposal.
The French association promoting renewable energy, Hespul, studied the efficiency of the first PV installation connected to the grid. Phébus 1 was launched in 1992 in the Ain department and is still functioning today. It was an experimental installation.
Engineers dismantled a part of the installation to test its efficiency under laboratory conditions. The surprise was enormous because, after 31 years of operation, the modules retained 79.5 percent of their original, manufacturer-declared efficiency. The results exceed the values declared by the manufacturer, who stated that the module efficiency would not be less than 80 percent after 25 years of operation.
The research examined how photovoltaics deteriorate over time: panels delaminate and corrode, bubbles appear on the back layer, and burn marks appear.
An inherent feature of this technology is the slow erosion of efficiency, i.e., the ability to generate electricity from a photovoltaic panel. Many people are convinced that after 15-20 years, a home photovoltaic installation will be so inefficient that it is not worth investing in. The data and measurements carried out by various world centres contradict this, although some efficiency loss cannot be avoided.
Boom in photovoltaics. What to do with used panels?
Photovoltaics have recently experienced a real boom, and the area covered by panels is rapidly growing. One panel weighs about 20 kilograms and has an area of 1.5 square metres. We install panels weighing hundreds of thousands of tonnes annually. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that millions of tonnes of used panels will enter the market annually.
It is already worth asking what to do with tonnes of glass and aluminium after their operational period ends, which is 20 years (pessimistic version) or 30 years (optimistic version). especially since there are currently no ready-made ideas on how to reuse and recycle old photovoltaics.
