Why your solar system needs occasional service
A well-installed solar system rarely fails outright — but performance degrades quietly. We see four common patterns on systems 5+ years old that haven't been serviced:
Soiled panels — pollen, lichen, leaf debris and bird droppings can drop annual yield by 8-15% on unmaintained systems. Often invisible from the ground.
MC4 connector corrosion — water ingress at rooftop connectors causes resistive heating and panel-string drop-out. A diagnostic IV-curve test catches this before a panel fails entirely.
Inverter performance drift — early-generation string inverters (2014-2018) often see capacitor degradation; output drops 5-10% over 8-10 years before outright failure.
Bird damage — Midlands rural and suburban sites particularly suffer from pigeons and starlings nesting under panels. Damage to wiring is the worst-case outcome.
An annual service catches all four. We use thermal imaging, IV-curve tracing, and full monitoring-data analysis.
What our annual service includes
Visual inspection — roof access (we provide scaffolding or use harnesses for low-pitch domestic), check for cracks, hot-spots, ingress, mounting bolt torque, junction box seals.
Electrical test — DC string voltage and current, AC output check, isolator function test, earth bond.
Performance audit — pull 12 months of monitoring data, compare to MCS PV*SOL prediction, flag any underperformance.
Inverter diagnostics — fault log review, firmware update if needed.
Generation meter reading — and submission to your DNO/supplier if required for SEG.
Written report — kWh generated, expected vs actual, any flagged items, recommended actions.
Domestic annual service from £180. Commercial from £450/visit, scaled with system size.
Inverter replacement
Solar panels typically last 25-30 years. Inverters need replacing once at around 10-12 years. We supply and fit all major brands:
- Solis — best value-per-kW replacement string inverter - SolaX X-Hybrid — replace string + add battery in one upgrade - Fox-ESS — modular AC and DC variants with strong app and EV-charger integration - SMA Sunny Boy / Tripower — legacy install replacement - Tesla Powerwall 3 — replaces inverter and adds 13.5kWh battery in one device
A straight inverter swap on a domestic system costs typically £1,400-£2,200 supplied and fitted. A hybrid swap (adds battery capability) £2,800-£4,500.
Bird-proofing for solar panels
Birds love the cavity between panels and the roof — warm, dry, predator-free. The result: nests, debris, droppings, damaged wiring and stained panels. Worst-affected Midlands locations: Birmingham suburbs near canals, Coventry and Leicester urban centres, and rural sites near woodland.
We install stainless steel mesh skirting around the panel array perimeter — the standard solution that keeps birds out while allowing airflow and rainwater runoff. Best fitted at installation, but we retrofit too. Domestic retrofit £900-£1,400 depending on array size.