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SolarCity Pushing Industry To 40% Increase In Useful Lifetime of Solar Power Installations (electrek.co)
An anonymous reader writes: SolarCity released a new report that says solar power systems have a usable lifetime of at least 35 years, which is 40% longer than what the market expects. Electrek reports: "The key finding of the report is that power degradation (annual efficiency loss) of solar panels supplied to SolarCity is as much as 35% lower than for a comparable industry-wide selection of non-SolarCity panels, which are typically expected to last for 25 years. In the study here, SolarCity looked at greater than 11,000 panels to determine their data points and come to their conclusion that their solar panels are performing well beyond expected industry standards. Today, standard efficiency solar panels put out by Tier 1 suppliers are generally warranted to lose no more than 0.7% efficiency per year for the first 25 years -- this is the Power Production Warranty. The key finding in this study is that the annual 0.7% efficiency loss is too high an estimation -- and that the number ought be closer to 0.5%. While it might seem a small number -- a difference of 0.2% -- when applied over a multiple decades timeframe, it means that instead of the standard twenty five year assumed productive life, we can expect at least another ten years of production above 80% of the original system output. Large installers like SolarCity, able to do this type of wide-scale research -- and to also demand higher quality, are showing their ability to pull the manufacturers of the world upward. With SolarCity building their own solar panel Gigafactory we ought expect the quality levels to be even greater in the near future.
It's even simpler than that. How can any company, that has only existed for 9 years, have any proof their product lasts 35 years let alone even 10?
Good for Solar City.
They're still not putting their panels on my roof and charging me money for the electricity they generate. They can lease the space from me, but if they retain full ownership interest in the panels, I'm not giving them anything for free, much less paying them for the privilege.
Solar city came around and handed out brochures, and I got an estimate from them.
Of their 3 plans in the estimate, none "charge me" for the electricity they produce. The three plans are three tiers representing the amount I pay up front, and the amount my electricity bill is reduced going forward.
So in other words, I could buy the panels outright ('sorta) and get a big reduction on my electricity consumption, or I could pay nothing and get a small reduction.
All of which was surveyed to my house, which accounted for the latitude, number of sunny days, estimated cost of electricity, and my average usage.
Putting up solar cells is a project that a lot of people don't have the skills or ambition for (especially older folks) - this is basically a turn-key solution. "Pay nothing, get a (small) decrease in electricity costs, and we'll maintain the system for 20 years".
For a lot of people, it's a good deal.
No, they are not adding to their warranties.
What they actually are doing is trying to scam the insurance and financial companies with allusions that they will be more profitable than they likely actually are by pulling a number out of their ass and calling it research. They are trying to lay some future costs off onto unsuspecting rubes like /. readers.
Hillary for Prison 2016! Now more than ever!