Solar Panels after 25 years.

UncleZen

Roger,
mmmm intersting. Though I have a burglar alarm system thats is fitten in my loft space thats been working for 25 years quite happily, with 1 new battery in the meantime.
So I dont buy your argument entirely, though its probably along the right lines.

ronlizpatsimon

Uncle Zen, it was Roger who gave an opinion on why Invertors do not last 25 years.
I find your Burglar alarm comments interesting. I expect the nature of their construction is that they do last a long time. I too have an alarm system. I am puzzeled as to why part of your system is in the loft - out of reach for setting/unsetting and not in an area where people normally break in. Perhaps it is where your "external" bell is fitted.

UncleZen

The "box" that contains the circuitry and backup-battery is in the loftspace, all the wiring goes there. The setting/unsetting keypad is somewhere far more convenient. The bell on the ouside. It was like that when I moved in. Though it is just inside the loft hatch for convenient access.
(amended prev post)

rogerblack

UncleZen wrote: »

Roger,
mmmm intersting. Though I have a burglar alarm system thats is fitten in my loft space thats been working for 25 years quite happily, with 1 new battery in the meantime.
So I dont buy your argument entirely, though its probably along the right lines.

These are very different animals.
A burglar alarm is a very low power device, largely - by its design - isolated from the mains, with the only component connected to the mains being a lightly loaded transformer, which is inherently not very vulnerable to spikes.
In addition, it's a stable design, which every competent engineer knows how to design, and there are no real unexpected reliability issues.

An inverter on the other hand is a high power device, with the sensitive bits of the circuitry more or less directly connected to the mains.

The components are (comparatively) new, and in order to reduce cost, the designs may be novel.
Analysing the lifetime of these inverters can be _hard_.

As a somewhat flawed analogy, a lightly used wheelbarrow may last 25 years easily, but even a well designed trailer in daily use is likely to need significant maintenance in that time.

rogerblack

oldskoo1 wrote: »

Perhaps a little controversial but i think solar panels will be short lived.

I both agree and disagree with this.
Existing solar panels are obtrusive - 'LOOK AT MY ROOF' designs.

They fit on top of existing roof materials, and may interact with them in ways which don't help with maintenance of either.

Technology moves on.
For example - the solar slate.


(from https://www.thegreenergroup.com/case-studies-solar-slate.html )

This is an example of a technology that might be suitable to replace the whole roof of a building with solar, at its initial construction.
Much of the existing cost of installation goes away, and with proper design, though modestly more expensive than existing roofing, it can - over the life of the building - be cheaper, as it may require lower maintenance, and be more weatherproof.
There are various of this sorts of panel arriving on the market, varying from stuff that looks pretty much like a 'normal' solar panel, to things looking more like glazed roof tiles -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/torst/2410650989/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/observe_at_robluscombe_com/4179376432/

These are at the moment _considerably_ more expensive than other solar panels - and other roof structures.
I wouldn't bet large sums on it staying this way.

ronlizpatsimon

Are they your panels Roger? If so I,m envios - must be about a 12 kw array there!

oldskoo1

Solar technology could move on but i still have doubts on how effective it is.

Ever changing weather conditions drastically affect how effective they are.

They clearly work and they will evolve, hopefully into a really good, affordable product but i still think the key is massive production of sustainable cleaner energy from sources that are constant, like core heat or tidal. Or perhaps advances in nuclear science.

[Deleted User]

My take on it...

Solar technology has been around for donkeys...

If it was not for FITs it would not be on the average house roof.

FITs made it viable, nothing else...

If FITs is set to low there is no incentive...

Looks like game over to me for the time being except for big commercial installs like Ikea doing their all shop roofs...

After 25 years I'll either be dead or have moved house so don't really care as the system will have paid for itself in 5-6 years. Plus the inverter has a 20 year warranty.

The future... I'd say more intelligent inverters that can still work in powercuts without frying engineers and it would be better to have systems bigger than 4kwp with better integration into the roof at affordable prices e.g. tiles.

Solar is nice to have but unless you have it you soon realise it's not that big a deal and may not save you as much as you think... It's the most boring thing I have ever bought...

ronlizpatsimon

Good Morning "OldSchool" & "JeepJunkie"
You have reservations about the panels but you seem to not appreciate their value as an investment.
I paid for my installation by cashing in some of my "cash isas" which I had been getting a return of 5%. I now expect a return on the panels of 15%

mildred1978

ronlizpatsimon wrote: »

Good Morning "OldSchool" & "JeepJunkie"
You have reservations about the panels but you seem to not appreciate their value as an investment.
I paid for my installation by cashing in some of my "cash isas" which I had been getting a return of 5%. I now expect a return on the panels of 15%

Brilliant. But your initial stake is now sitting on your roof!