My initial expectations were that it would last longer than it did. The panels failed after about 10 years. The inverter, the initial inverter also failed earlier than that, but it was under warranty. The panels that failed probably still under warranty by law. Unfortunately, the company doesn't exist. The people who are installing the new panels now assured me that the company doesn't exist. So there's no point in pursuing it. I suppose the panels were marketed quite actively, by the relevant sales people. Sadly, a company that doesn't exist now is no use as far as warranties.

So the decision to go solar those years ago was still the right decision but the choices were perhaps a little more limited than they are now. It's a little disappointing that old panels can't really be recycled in any meaningful way. That is a sign of the times I think, that they're just going to be landfill. I believe there are components that can be recycled, but not at any cost significance to the company doing that. Well again, I thought that the warranty was adequate for the time but the company wasn't. There was no sensible option other than to replace the solar panels. I was more than a little disappointed when I went online and couldn't find the relevant company.

However you move on. And then we started investigating what today's options were. We'd already gone through that process 10 years earlier but perhaps with fresh eyes, we looked again.