Solar panels last 30 years or more. The industry standard panel warranty is this:
- 10 year workmanship warranty
- 25 year power warranty
Some modules, such as Trina, have a linear power warranty. Most however, have a two-tier step warranty that guarantees this:
- 90% power at year 10
- 80% power at year 25
Solar panels degrade gradually over time with exposure to sunlight, wind and weather. Panels are typically warranted 25 – 30 years and have a design lifespan of over 30 years. Energy production is expected to degrade by about one-half of one percent per year.
Inverters are warranted for 10 – 15 years and have an expected lifespan of 15 – 20 years. Future inverters will likely have longer lives. You may need to replace an inverter once in the system’s lifetime and we figure that cost into our financial predictions.
All other system components have service lives over 30 years.