> I don't know much about solar panels, but I thought they broke down fairly frequently and required specialized tools and knowledge to repair?
Where did you hear that? Have they perchance been trying to mislead you about renewables?
A solar cell is a huge flat diode. A panel is a chain of them in series. It sits there and makes electricity when exposed to light. There are no moving parts other than electrons. It requires no lubrication and no maintenance. Since they're sealed units under glass, the only thing you might have to worry about is leaks and damage from weather, which can be addressed with sealant if the panel is still functional. Admittedly if you crack it badly enough it will be unrepairable.
The inverter is slightly more fragile, being a big piece of power electronics, but still usually guaranteed for 10 years. The most fragile part of the system is probably the pump.
>The most fragile part of the system is probably the pump.
Most submersible clean-water pumps don't require lubrication and have very little wear as they use fluid bearings. They usually last at least 8-10 years without any maintenance as long as you follow the specs - avoid running dry, starting/stopping too frequently, particles that are too large etc.
I believe I developed that impression from reading about peace corps projects involving solar panels, that, once the volunteers left, no one has the expertise to maintain, so they just went unused. I am glad to learn otherwise! I’m looking at some property in upstate NY and would love to install some panels.
Highly recommend it, though beware your yields will be truly abysmal during the winter. I live entirely off-grid in California and even here the dead of winter can be a bit tight on power. I will say setting the whole thing up is super duper easy, and if you buy second-hand solar your price/watt can be very very cheap. I paid about 30c/watt for panels.
Ah right - that is more a problem of peace corps and similar projects. You can't just "air drop" technology into a place to produce economic results, it has to fit in with the local economy. Unfortunately in Afghanistan the local economy is opium.
(see also: attempted modernisation of collective farming in communist countries; "rocket stoves"; pumps driven by "children playing", and so on.)
I have a 4kW set up here at 56 degrees north in Scotland. The big downside is not the diurnal cycle but the seasonal one; off-grid is not viable here without wind. If I've read this map correctly New York state goes up to 45N, so you should get great power in summer but need to think carefully about winter. I believe you also get colder winters than us?
Where did you hear that? Have they perchance been trying to mislead you about renewables?
A solar cell is a huge flat diode. A panel is a chain of them in series. It sits there and makes electricity when exposed to light. There are no moving parts other than electrons. It requires no lubrication and no maintenance. Since they're sealed units under glass, the only thing you might have to worry about is leaks and damage from weather, which can be addressed with sealant if the panel is still functional. Admittedly if you crack it badly enough it will be unrepairable.
The inverter is slightly more fragile, being a big piece of power electronics, but still usually guaranteed for 10 years. The most fragile part of the system is probably the pump.