Production System degradation accounts for the decrease in solar energy system output over time due to factors such as solar cell degradation, increased connections and wire resistance, mechanical deformation due to weather cycling, and electrical component failure. The amount of degradation depends on the PV technology, local climate, and other application-dependent properties.   

How

...

system degradation works in Sighten

Sighten accounts for production degradation on an annual basis by applying a percentage degradation, or rate, for each year of the solar energy system's lifetime, beginning in Year 2. No production degradation factor is applied to year 1 production estimates in Sighten.

...

In this example, the cumulative production degradation over a 20-year lifetime would be 19 x 0.7% = 13.3% meaning that in Year 20, the production would be degraded by this amount on a year-to-year basis.

How is

...

system degradation set on the platform?

There are 4 ways production degradation is set on the platform. The degradation can be set by: the financier, module, organization, or Sighten default. We'll discuss them according to their level of hierarchy and how they are configured:

1 Financier degradation configurability

This is a specific degradation rate required for select integrated financing options within our portal. This will not actually modify the system production, but will be a factor in TPO products / cash flows when applicable. There is currently only one financier in our portal utilizing this functionality.

...

Please contact your Sighten Account Manager and/or submit a request to Sighten support to revise this value.

2 Module-specific degradation configurability

This is a fixed value provided by a spec sheet or a manufacturer that we have added to specific models. Thus, when this model is used on a job, degradation will use the module-specific value instead of the organization level. This is somewhat new functionality for us so we are still building out the database and your input here is very helpful.

...

To configure the production degradation for your company, please contact Sighten support at support@sighten.io and submit a request. To configure the production degradation rate for integrated solar financing products, please contact the financier's representative and submit a request. 

4 Sighten-default degradation rate

If an organization did not set a degradation %, all degradation rates will be 0.7% (Sighten default). This is, provided that no financier-specific, or module-specific degradation% is applicable to the job.

Production degradation impacts

Solar energy system annual production degradation affects quotes, proposals, and contracts in the following ways in Sighten:

...