Compendium of degradation rates of global photovoltaic (PV) technology: insights from technology, climate and geography

The leap in global solar energy deployment has sparked widespread industrial and academic interest in degradation rates of PV technology. Degradation rates significantly impact the PV industry's reliability, financial viability, and sustainability. Due to the recent rapid technology iterations and increase in global deployment, it is necessary to investigate the degradation of PV technologies under long-term outdoor exposure in the last five years. More importantly, it remains unclear how degradation rates of PV technologies evolve, as well as their technological, climatic, and geographical distribution. This study compiles degradation rates by outdoor field tests of PV technologies reported in the literature over the last five years and provides more a nuanced and comprehensive analysis in terms of measurement model, technology, climate, and geography compared to previous compendiums. Results show that globally median degradation rate of PV technology has been 1.00 %/year, with a mean of 1.27 %/year, an increase compared to 2016 and 2013. Degradation rates show various distributions by technology, climate and geography. Rising degradation rates will directly shorten the PV lifespan and reduce the power output, leading to a higher levelized cost of energy and quicker reaching of warranty limits for PV users. Higher degradation rates will force PV technologies to reach end-of-life faster, increasing the potential PV waste stream worldwide.