Featured in Time for fresh concepts – 04-2011

Aging overvalued

Degradation: Most yield assessments include possible module degradation in their calculations, yet theres little evidence to show whether modules really lose power as the years go by. Experts at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems have now come to the conclusion that many modules are better than previously thought.

By

Michael Fuhs

28 Mar 2011

Take a car that loses half a percent of its power every year. After ten years, it will deliver, instead of 100 horsepower, only 95. Even a car enthusiast would hardly notice that reduction. Things are different with photovoltaic arrays, for five percent lower output means around five percent less income, which causes investors a …

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