How long do solar panels last for?
Glad you asked! This is probably one of the most commonly asked questions up front for those starting their journey into the world of solar energy. The industry standard length for a solar project is 25 years. So any reputable brand of panel manufacturer will offer warranties on their panels for at least 25 years. This often refers to their “performance warranty” (how well the panel converts sunlight into electricity as it gets older). Hint – all solar panels do drop slightly in efficiency as time goes on!
Accompanying this should also be a “manufacturers warranty” (how well the panel was made in the factory). Most manufacturers warranties these days are between 10-25 years. There’s plenty of discussion about the validity of such lengthy warranties but in our opinion, if a panel does not break after 10 years it likely doesn’t have a manufacturing fault anyway. As for the performance warranty, we see this warranty more as a guideline than a warranty. It will be very difficult to prove if a solar panel is still producing at 85%-90% of its original output after 25 years of operation so claiming a warranty on such metrics is rather unrealistic. Having said that as long as the panel comes from an established company that has been producing panels for a while and you know they will likely be around for many years to come then you probably can’t go wrong. At Front End Solar we only deal with tier one panel producers for this reason so we know that if we put a panel on your rooftop or on your ground mount structure we can rely on it doing the job for the long term.
Bear in mind most panels will keep producing for you well beyond their warranty period so you will continue making those feel good power savings well beyond 30 years!
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