Most PV cells have a life expectancy of about 25 years at 80% of peak (new) output. The panels degrade over time from almost the first moment they are exposed to light. After 23 years you'll be at no more than 80-85% of your current output.

I admit renewable energy's costs are not turned into externalities as easily as fossil and nukes. Megatons of heavy metal fly ash doesn't need to be dealt with [coal] and a catastrophic failure rate of 5% doesn't destroy 100s of hectares and lives. [nukes] The one unstated assumption in this article is that fossil fuels will be as available about as long as we'll need to keep nuke wastes out of the biosphere. I believe that assumption is untrue and we really need to focus on providing renewable energy with subsidies as we have fossil and nukes. [Giant navies to keep the oil flowing and nobody in their right mind would invest in nukes without bribes.]

Solar panels allow for the breaking down of some cells over time. That's why when you bye a thousand watts, you actually get one thousand and fifty.
More than 50 yeas ago solar panels were installed on a test site and still operating with Nine hundred and ninety six of the 2 watt cells operating, the original value was one thousand and fifty 2 watt cells.

It's not just the failure of individual cells, but the loss of efficiency. A cell that originally produced 100W will only produce 80 or so at the end of 25 years, excpet in exceptional circumstances. This is because of things like degradation of the glass, degradation of the semi-conductor material itself, degradation of the connections between cells, etc. They'll still be useful, but not quite as useful as they were. A frequent solution is to simply add another module when the power is no longer enough.

Perhaps one of the geniuses on this thread can explain how any of these systems can provide base load.

Given that peak demand is at about 7pm, and is more than double the demand at noon, PV cells are essentially useless and wind cannot be relied upon. Hot rock geothermal is having so many teething problems that it is no longer being considered viable for many decades. Solar thermal (liquid salt) can store heat, but comes in at about 4x the cost of nuclear and about 10x the cost of coal.

Until these issues are resolved, replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy is a fantasy generated by greenies to help them avoid dealing with reality.

PV is a good fit for aircon mostly SM.