System Lifespan - Panels, Batteries, Cabling, Inverters

[girfold]

Hey all,

Curious what to expect for each of the components of a system. I figure Inverters is the lowest, but wondering if people have had inverters running for well over the 5 years they state. All-in-ones are fairly new, so I doubt there's much data to go on for the long-term (10+ years), but wondering how often these outright fail and need to replaced. I know it varies on the model or vendor, but what are your thoughts on what to expect? Just curious if I need to have any backups, especially in the Inverter department. The below are just my hunches and are in no way 100% accurate.

Component	Typical Warranty	Minimum without fault?	Median	Maximum
All-in-one Inverter/Charge Controller/Charger	3 Years	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
PV Cabling - Temco		20 Years	30 Years	50 Years
Solar Panels	25 Year Linear	15 Years	20 Years	30 Years
LiFePo4 Batteries	5 Years	5 Years	15 Years	20 Years
AGM Batteries	1 Year	6 Months	3 Years	8 Years

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Shimmy]

Inverter 15 years should be good, solar panels likely hit a "smashing point" at 25 years where replacement is more attractive than keeping. AGM is about 3 years for reliable operation, 5 years if you have a lot in parallel and tolerate failures. I believe LFP will likely work for 10-12 years reliably, but not enough data to support. PV cables should be fine 30-50 years.

 

[Danke]

Micro inverters supposedly last a long time.

 

[MichaelK]

Go for quality batteries, and don't plan on depleting them more than 15% per day. I'm expecting my Rolls batteries to last me 15-20 years. Same with my inverter. My XW+6848 has been on continously for 5 years now. Not one single issue.

Spend your money on cheapo AiO units, and yeah, have plans for 3 years out.

 

[OffGridInTheCity]

I'm at 5yrs ~1700 cycles and so far it's the AIMS 12,000w inverter that failed / control board had to be re-conditioned (capacitors replaced).
The Panels, Array mounting, Midnite Classics, Battery Bank (NMC), Batrium BMS, and wiring all OK so far.

 

[RSahan]

Go for quality batteries, and don't plan on depleting them more than 15% per day.

Doesn't make sense when lfp batteries are already cheap enough. Going by your logic you need to have 100kwh of batteries to use 15kwh of power per day. What a waste of money

Lfp battery of 20kwh will last over 15 years easily when cycled for 15kwh per day. And you can build 2 x 20kwh lfp batteries for less than a single 100kwh AGM battery

 

[0truck0]

What about just the charger (MPPT)?

 

[SolarScott]

I've got a trace 12 volt small inverter that was put in for Y2K. It is my back up to my back up system. The Uni solar panels are still working also.

 

[MichaelK]

And you can build 2 x 20kwh lfp batteries for less than a single 100kwh AGM battery

I would never even consider AGMs.

 

[RSahan]

I would never even consider AGMs.

My bad I thought rolls surette is AGM. But my point still stands

 

[MichaelK]

Doesn't make sense when lfp batteries are already cheap enough. Going by your logic you need to have 100kwh of batteries to use 15kwh of power per day. What a waste of money

Lfp battery of 20kwh will last over 15 years easily when cycled for 15kwh per day. And you can build 2 x 20kwh lfp batteries for less than a single 100kwh AGM battery

Ummm, exactly how are you coming up with these numbers? I've used up to 20-25kWh per DAY, but that was during the day, you know, when the sun is shining?

I don't think even you are cluelessly stupid enough to try to use 15kWh at nighttime.

 

[RSahan]

Ummm, exactly how are you coming up with these numbers? I've used up to 20-25kWh per DAY, but that was during the day, you know, when the sun is shining?

I don't think even you are cluelessly stupid enough to try to use 15kWh at nighttime.

We are talking about batteries not my consumption. I guess you are stupid enough to understand the point

 

[scubadoo]

Lifespan?
I can only report on our system.
Full-time RV travelling for the last 9 years.
4 cell 300Ah Sinopoly LiFePO4 battery. No internal BMS. Starts our 3.9l turbo diesel engine and powers the RV.
Victron 75/50A MPPT solar controller.
Victron 30A battery charger. Rarely used.
Victron 100A Battery Protect.
3 x 24V 270W panels. 2x mono. 1x poly.
Samsung 255l 230V Digital inverter fridge powered by $60 300W PSW inverter running 24/7.
Multiple and various LED lighting all regulated at 11V maximum or 10-28V units.
Webasto 6KW diesel air/water heater.
Car stereo, alarm.
100A rated alternator charging battery at c80A. No smoke yet.

All installed from day one and not a single failure in those 9 years of full-time travel.

Added at later stages.
4 cell EVE 280Ah LiFePO4 paralleled.
Victron 500A SmartShunt.
Victron BatterySense.
1500W PSW inverter.
Various TVs, Android TV boxes, Bluetooth speakers Junctek battery monitors etc. etc.
Electronic device failures equals zero. We must be very lucky.

A few Aliexpress goodies over the years were either DOA or useless.

 

[SamDeleted]

You can change 'minimum without fault' to 0 years on all items lol , it's not uncommon for stuff to arrive broken from the factory , or break on the first use

 

[JRH]

Hey all,

Curious what to expect for each of the components of a system. I figure Inverters is the lowest, but wondering if people have had inverters running for well over the 5 years they state. All-in-ones are fairly new, so I doubt there's much data to go on for the long-term (10+ years), but wondering how often these outright fail and need to replaced. I know it varies on the model or vendor, but what are your thoughts on what to expect? Just curious if I need to have any backups, especially in the Inverter department. The below are just my hunches and are in no way 100% accurate.

Component	Typical Warranty	Minimum without fault?	Median	Maximum
All-in-one Inverter/Charge Controller/Charger	3 Years	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
PV Cabling - Temco		20 Years	30 Years	50 Years
Solar Panels	25 Year Linear	15 Years	20 Years	30 Years
LiFePo4 Batteries	5 Years	5 Years	15 Years	20 Years
AGM Batteries	1 Year	6 Months	3 Years	8 Years

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Its an intresting thought.. I had the same thought the other day.…. I think some of your conclusions are pretty close on some things…others not so much….But there are so many variables that would have to be considered to draw even a ballpark answer ..the biggest change I would make to this question would be to have three category’s…

Top tier..
Mid point -
cheap ass stuff…

Throwing top tier stuff into the same pot as the cheap crap skews the results for the bottom and the top.The top tier unfairly gets their average life pulled down by “Crazy Al’s Kung Pow“ mystery device… And crazy Al gets an undeserved boost by being averaged in with a superior product.
This gives a distorted metric to some one that doesn’t know all the gear and facts.

The owners treatment affects it , its home environment affects it , did your mean kids pour beer on it affects it.. everything affects it….!.

but Good question none the less…..J.

 

[rpdom]

My Solis hybrid inverter had a default 5 year cover but I got the extended 10 year cover on inverter, batteries and panels. I'd expect it to last at least that long. I've only had it running 10 months so far.