The owner, installer and inverter manufacturer SMA are quite chuffed with the performance of this solar power system.
The Autonomous House, located in Southwell, Nottinghamshire in the UK, was the first privately owned system in the nation to export electricity to the mains grid.
Since July 27 1994, the solar panels have generated over 33 megawatt hours of electricity. A test recently run on the system showed the panels are producing nearly 80% of their overall original rated power; very close to the forecasted performance figure from the manufacturer.
The 2.16kW system featured 36x 60Wp polycrystalline modules and an SMA PV WR-1800 inverter; which was the first SMA solar inverter installed in the UK. The original solar inverter demonstrated an astounding service life and was only replaced 5 years ago with a Sunny Boy SB-2500.
Indicating how much pricing for solar equipment has dropped; this system cost £15,000 in 1994 – approximately AUD $27,500 at current exchange rates and without taking into account inflation. Today, a similar sized solar power system costs around $3,500 fully installed in Australia.
While a great testimony to the durability of properly installed and good quality solar panels, kudos also goes to Wind And Sun for still being around to witness this important milestone – the company has been operating for 30 years.
The Autonomous House isn’t the only old-timer array still cranking electricity. In 2012, we mentioned a Kyocera solar panel based system installed in 1992 that had lost very little of its efficiency since the day it was installed. There’s also the 30 year old solar panel that was still functioning at the time we published.
It’s stories like these that help further reassure owners of good quality and professionally installed solar power systems that their investment will continue to provide returns for many years.
