‘Real Engineering’ video describes the inherent but unreported flaw of solar panels – they degrade in efficiency as soon as the leave the factory. At the outset, a typical solar panel has 20 percent efficiency.
In other words, it is capable of translating 20 percent of the energy it receives from the sun to convert into useful energy. But this number falls off a cliff during regular use and a lot of potential energy is lost.
Scientists have been looking for the cause of the problem in the photovoltaic cells, as explained in the video below:
Credits: PRINCIPIA SCIENTIFIC INTERNATIONAL