Solar Electricity for the Next Generation ... and Then Some

PHOTO CREDIT: SUNPLUGGERS.COM
Electricity produced by a 55-year-old solar cell still moves the needle. A new company opening a plant in New York hopes to extend the service lifetimes of outdoor photovoltaic modules beyond half a century.

By Michael Balchunas

Published March 6, 2010

Coming up on "Antiques Roadshow": heirloom electricity.

It actually could happen.

One aspect of solar photovoltaics that might surprise consumers new to the technology is that equipment purchased today may very well outlast the buyer.

The solar modules most commonly installed on residential and small-business rooftops are typically warranted to still produce electricity at a near-new rate 25 years down the road. A warranty figure frequently cited for the quarter-century mark is 80 percent of a specified output rating when new.

PHOTO CREDIT: SUNPLUGGERS.COM
A 12-year-old holds a solar PV cell her
grandfather worked with in 1955. It still
produces as much electricity as it did then.

Research over the past three decades has shown that panels' power production, after a modest initial decline that manufacturers expect and account for, tends to degrade slowly over the years. The reasons are not fully known but may involve minute cracks between the sandwiched assemblies of glass, solar cells, plastic-like coatings and backing material. Tiny cracks may admit moisture in time and eventually lead to corrosion.

How long until a typical module will no longer produce much, if any, electricity?

No one yet knows. The oldest mass-manufactured solar-electric modules are now about 30 years old, and it appears that the majority are still going strong. These were modules made without the benefit of the past 30 years of study.

One possible clue about anticipated long-term performance is found at the tail end of a recent news release about a new solar firm planning to open a module plant in New York state's Hudson Valley.

The new company, called Solartech Renewables, "is also licensing and developing proprietary technology improvements to 'ruggedize' its products and extend service life in the field," says the release, posted on the website of U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y.

"Solartech's product development road map provides for a near-term extension of warranty and service life of its 'ruggedized' solar panels by 25 percent (to 32.5 years), and longer-term improvements that would prolong service life," the news release adds.

How long does the company hope to prolong the panels' service life? To "beyond 50 years in the field," it says.

For the consumer purchasing solar equipment today, production over time is a critical part of the cost equation. If stocks are to be considered a long-term investment, solar equipment by comparison is a very long-term investment.

PHOTO CREDIT: SUNPLUGGERS.COM
Solar panels are made of front glass,
sealants, an encapsulant, solar cells, a
back sheet and an aluminum frame.
This sign is at the California Center for
Sustainable Energy in San Diego.

Misinformation about the cost of solar photovoltaic electricity is rife in part because of unfamiliarity with the equipment and the expectations for lifetime production. Over time, the non-subsidized retail cost of solar electricity is closer to the retail cost of conventional utility electricity than many realize.

Although Solartech Renewables cites a proprietary technology to extend service life, some experts believe many suppliers' modules manufactured today could still be producing useful electricity half a century ahead.

More information about longevity expectations for solar equipment is available from our story "Does Solar Have Staying Power?"

Solartech's new plant is to be located in Tech City, a development that involves the conversion of a former IBM industrial facility into a site for producing energy-efficient technologies. The company is expected to start producing polycrystalline silicon PV modules this year, with an initial annual production capacity of 12 megawatts, or about 55,000 solar panels a year.

Manufacturing expansion is anticipated through 2012. About 50 or more workers are expected to be employed initially, with additions within a year to as many as 100.

A nonprofit organization called The Solar Energy Consortium, or TSEC, helped arrange the incentives that encouraged the company to establish its manufacturing site in Tech City. The consortium has received more than $31 million in federal funding to establish a solar-industry research and manufacturing cluster in the Hudson Valley. It is providing $600,000 to Solartech Renewables to help set up its operation.

Solartech also is receiving $1.5 million in manufacturing incentives from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. It is to get another $1.7 million in aid from Empire Zone credits and job-creation incentives. The Empire State Development Corporation is chipping in a $2 million convertible loan.

Solartech's chairman and chief executive, Todd Roberts, thanked Mr. Hinchey and New York State Rep. Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, for supporting the company's effort to establish itself in Tech City.

"Solartech Renewables will serve as a proud producer of both standard and advanced 'Made in America – Made in New York' solar panels within the cluster of solar-cell manufacturers and other solar companies developing in the Tech City complex and nearby in the Hudson Valley region," he said.