Solar Panel performance over years

[nishontheweb]

Hi,

this is my first post here, i have setup a small LED lighting setup at home, what i wanted to know was that if i have 1 18w panel, and say in a few months want to increase it to maybe 2 or 3 panels more, will wiring them in parallel at that stage with my current panel be safe? Does the performance of the old panel decrease with time?

the reason i ask this is because you are normally not advised to put old and new battery's together, does the same hold for solar panels too? or do we have to add a non reversing diode to protect the panel from reverse charge from another panel?

Thanks in advance for your help

- nish

[Jason]

Hey Nish,

Thanks for joining Solar Panel Talk, I appreciate it!

Solar panels will slowly degrade over time. How fast depends on the type of solar panel.

Crystalline doesn't degrade as quick as thin film for example. I believe it's around .5% a year for crystalline. Most crystalline panels have warranted power output for 20 to 25 years. This means that up to 25 years should come and go before you notice any significant dip in panel production. Thin film panels usually have shorter warranties, around 5-10 years.