System Degradation

Solar panels and batteries lose their capabilities as they age, this degradation must be taken into account so that the power solution now is still suitable later on.

Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries for example are generally rated to have 80% of their original capacity after 5000 discharge cycles, that’s a little over 13 years. You’ll likely be replacing them long before then.

Solar panels have a much longer lifespan with 90% generation typically guaranteed after 10 years, and 80% generation typically guaranteed after 20 years. This of course will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and you may find yourself upgrading much sooner as technology advances.

Given these time frames I won’t go into more detail about the long term viability of this solution. Having to worry about this in real terms would be a very welcome problem indeed and can be easily solved by getting an additional solar panel wired in parallel with the rest 10 years down the line.

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