Dadoftheturkeykids
Arc Angel
Basically I'm wondering if solar panels degrade more if being used in the sun. I'm curious if it might be good or maybe even bad to store them.
So living in a place with 6 months of dark cold winter, should prolong the life of all my solar panels!!Storing in a cool dark dry place will greatly prolong their life.
he asked degrade, not work or no workI'm not an expert but I had one still in the box for almost a year. Just opened and used it the other day. Works just like new.
TemperatureThe major wear factors for panels are:
Temperature
Current
Humidity
Storing in a cool dark dry place will greatly prolong their life.
Biggest cause of degradation is actually chemical reactions in (low quality) plastic layers (mainly EVA) and adhesives, heat/humidity/UV-light working as catalyst. Actual semiconductor layer is not degrading so much.Don't forget to keep it dry. If the seals aren't perfect some moisture could enter.
If dark, temperatures below those that damage semiconductors should be fine.
Rapid temperature changes should be avoided, as well, to avoid stresses from
differential expansion of different materials.
Letting sun hit it if it's in a place where it woun't be cooled by convection could heat it enough to be an issue. I's a dark thing under glass, so it's subject to the greenhouse effect and has to dump the heat to avoid getting hotter than the surrounding air.
But, yes. if it's stored under non-extreme conditions it should last for decades without noticeable degradation. I'm not aware of any self-degradation modes that aren't driven by something external (except maybe wiring or chip oxidation if the seals and/or chip passivation are defective).
You are correct, and he also asked about storing them. Like I said, I am no expert.he asked degrade, not work or no work
Looks like mine but in my house lol.. If only charge controllers weren't so expensive...
Well, as it turns out,
I had a single "sample" BP poly panel given to me in 2010, that was never used, stored in the back of a cold storage building unit 2021 when I put it to work.
It outputs close to the 200W the label indicates, when in direct good sunshine.
Seems they don't d-grade out of the weather from this one example.
edit: The BP panel was in a sealed cardboard box, original package so never exposed to any significant light for 11 years.