Snail trail solar panels, and blemished panels with cracked and scratched vinyl back-sheets have become available on the used market. These panels are not new, but still have many kwh left to contribute.
What happens when Solar Star, Antelope Valley, Topaz Solar or Desert Sunlight suddenly dump millions of panels? These huge megawatt projects were commissioned in 2014 - 2016. They will soon be 10 years old. While it would be nice for solar panels to all work 100% up to their death day, and in one fell swoop, all fail at the same instant, this is unlikely. At some point the degradation will be sufficient that the solar farm will be replacing a huge number of panels all at once.
When this happens, the number of used panels available will be massive. Some will be so far gone that they will be crushed. But some will still have a significant number of years left.
At some point:
1. The law of supply and demand will force the price per used panel to drop significantly.
2. The existing used panel distribution structure will be unable to swallow the massive number of panels and efficiently re-market them.
What is your prediction of how soon this will really ramp up, and how big a problem it will be?
What happens when Solar Star, Antelope Valley, Topaz Solar or Desert Sunlight suddenly dump millions of panels? These huge megawatt projects were commissioned in 2014 - 2016. They will soon be 10 years old. While it would be nice for solar panels to all work 100% up to their death day, and in one fell swoop, all fail at the same instant, this is unlikely. At some point the degradation will be sufficient that the solar farm will be replacing a huge number of panels all at once.
When this happens, the number of used panels available will be massive. Some will be so far gone that they will be crushed. But some will still have a significant number of years left.
At some point:
1. The law of supply and demand will force the price per used panel to drop significantly.
2. The existing used panel distribution structure will be unable to swallow the massive number of panels and efficiently re-market them.
What is your prediction of how soon this will really ramp up, and how big a problem it will be?