Continuing about the reasons for commercial panel degradation from last week, it's important to know the degradation rate of the solar panels you're going to evaluate, how the manufacturers compare and what type of impact takes place on your business due to solar panel degradation is the most important thing.

Definition of Solar Panel degradation and what is the meaning of "degradation rate" :

You might feel awkward about the term "Degradation" about the solar module but the in the industry it's just used to describe the decline in output that all the solar panels experience over time. Here's in the table, is just a short list of solar panel's degradation rate:

The fact is all the solar modules degrade over time but the bottom line is, "They don't degrade at the same rate". Usually in the first year of operation, panels typically undergo short-term degradation ranging from less than 1% to 3%. After that, according to a recent study, solar panel performance declines by an average of 0.7% to 0.9% each year.

For an example from the above table, considering the solar panel's first year degradation rate is 2%, so it'd operate at 98% efficiency in the second year. From that point, assuming 0.75% degradation rate for each year, it'd be operating at 80% efficiency in the 25th year. Usually solar panel's lifespan is around 25~30 years, depending on the quality and manufacturer. It doesn't mean, after that lifespan solar panel doesn't generate energy. It generates electricity or energy for sure but it simply means their energy production has declined to a point beyond what manufacturers refer to as a panel’s “useful life.”

That's why it's important to consider for the betterment of longer period, whether to investment less amount of money with solar panel with higher degradation rate or to invest competitive amount of money with lower degradation rate of solar panel.

• Depending on the quality of your panels’ materials, the more extreme the weather conditions they’re exposed to, the faster they might degrade. If your panels will be installed in an environment where weather could be a factor, ask about ways they could be protected from the elements.
• Need to check the panels annually for physical damage, such as trees or bushes blowing in the wind and creating scratches. The more surface scratches on panels, the faster they degrade.
• While not always necessary, cleaning your panels can also play an important role in making sure they don’t degrade at a higher rate than expected. Monitor changes in the power output of your solar panels before and after cleaning, as well as over different time intervals. Take notes and evaluate what works. You might find that the costs of cleaning may, in fact, be greater than the costs associated with a lower degradation rate.

Key points about commercial solar degradation rate

• Understand the degradation rate of the solar panels as well as the decrease in energy output for the panel degradation.
• Asses the financial impact of choosing a panel with lower capex with but higher degradation rate versus panel with a higher/ competitive capex with lower degradation rate.
• Find out the ways which your provider recommends in terms of placement, ongoing inspections, cleaning and maintenance to keep your solar panel degradation rate as low as possible.