Stephen Gorin News Today

Determining how many years a solar panel will last can take, well, years. Intended to function for 25 years or more, solar panels must be made to withstand the elements. In some cases, panels continue working well after their planned operational lifetime. Nowhere is this more evident than on the sunny hillside in Golden, Colorado, where the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) operates the Outdoor Test Facility (OTF).   The OTF continues to run tests on photovoltaic (PV) panels made by ...

First Solar’s Photovoltaic Technology Completes 25 Years of Testing at NREL Dec. 14, 2020 First Solars 0.6 kilowatt cadmium telluride PV solar test array has been tested at NRELs Outdoor Test Facility for 25 years. Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL Determining how many years a solar panel will last can take, well, years. Intended to function for 25 years or more, solar panels must be made to withstand the elements. In some cases, pane...