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this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2024
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Do you expect a fridge to work in six years? Seems you're applying an unreasonable standard to solar in a vacuum.
Yes, I expect household appliances to last at least a decade. My current fridge is from 2004, and whilst it will probably need replacing soon, 20 years is not an unreasonable run.
Honestly, it depends on what you spend. Many high-end fridges in Europe come with 10 year manufacturer's warrantee. And EU law requires manufacturers to provide parts for 10 years on such goods. So honestly yeah.
That said, cheaper ones tend to make it past 5 (mine is 8 years old) without maintenance. And if I had to replace it 3 times in 10 years, it would still be cheaper than getting the expensive ones. (worse for the environment)
As for solar panels. I am about to replace the one on my boat. It is well over 5 years old and still works. I'm replacing it because I can get 2 410w huge panels for way less than the 100w one cost the past boat owner.
6 years really is nothing for a solar panel. My new ones came with a 20-year warrantee. (something like 85% after 20 year). High-end ones are better.
The 2 MPPTs are likely to need replacing first. But again, 6 years may be well beyond their warrantee. But is reasonable to expect. The lifepo4 battery should just manage 10 years. Before losing significant storage. But that is with the BMS set to keep them from 10-90% charge.
So no, 6 years is a very reasonable time to expect from solar.
EDIT: In a house setup. It is the inverter that is most likely to need replacing. But again, 6 years is more than likely for a quality one.
On my boat, the vast majority of the equipment is 12v, as it's just more efficient. But the cheap (very) Chinese inverter did not last a year. So yeah they can be cheap crap if you don't get good ones. But we don't really use it much. So haven't bother replacing it yet. Will do so this summer.
We agree for the most part ... people unaware of how an off-grid DC setup operates fixate on the parts least likely to fail (that was me, as well, when I first started looking into things). MPPT, fuse panels and various step converters should be the anticipated replacements. They're inexpensive compared to wholesale PV and LFP upgrades.
Grins, actually My MPPT cost more than the panels. £70 for each panel plus £33 shipping the pair. The 2 30a MPPTs £90 each.
But when fitting to a house it's likely to be mounting by a pro that is the bigger cost. So yeah, way easier to replace the MPPTs etc then climb on a roof.
Fortunately, with a narrow boat a can do it all myself with just the risk of wet feet ;)
I'm in that in-between use where it's a tool van. So I have acreage for solar on the roof and 1200W. I negotiated a remarkably reasonable rate with myself for the install.
Really great day. When you can screw yourself.
;>