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I see degradation numbers between -0.1%/year and -1.1%/year.

This translates to about

* 0.999^25 = 97.5% to 0.989^25 = 75.8% output after 25 years.

* 0.999^50 = 95% to 0.989^50 = 57.5% output after 50 years.



It would be good to break the figures down between:

* The actual silicon is degrading

* The cover glass is getting dirty/frosted/delaminating/optical adhesive is no longer clear

* Electrical failure of a whole cell - for example it is cracked, yet the panel still appears to work due to the bypass diodes removing a whole cell from the circuit.

Sure - from the users point of view it doesn't matter, but from an engineering point of view, the cause of failure gives some clues how to prevent it.


Data I’ve see doesn’t show output dropping continuously at a constant rate. Also some panels did show modest improvement for a few years.


> modest improvement for a few years.

Many regions of the world are getting dryer. You might just be seeing a global warming side effect as there is less cloud cover.




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