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Europe is experiencing a long-term demographic decline in which its population as a share of the global total has already been reduced by half over the last 60 years. But in the years ahead, countries in the south and east of Europe – with much lower rates of fertility and higher rates of emigration – are expected to perform far worse than those in the north, further widening European economic inequality and few tractable policy solutions in sight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are the cheapest source of electricity in sunny locations and nearly all European countries. However, the fast deployment of PV systems around the world is bringing uncertainty to the PV community in terms of the reliability and long-term performance of PV modules under different climatic stresses, such as irradiation, temperature changes, and humidity. Methodologies and models to estimate the annual degradation rates of PV modules have been studied in the past, yet, an evaluation of the issue at global scale has not been addressed so far. Hereby, we process the ERA5 climate re-analysis dataset to extract and model the climatic stresses necessary for the calculation of degradation rates. These stresses are then applied to evaluate three degradation mechanisms (hydrolysis-degradation, thermomechanical-degradation, and photo- degradation) and the total degradation rate of PV modules due to the combination of temperature, humidity, and ultraviolet irradiation. Further on, spatial distribution of the degradation rates worldwide is computed and discussed proving direct correlation with the Köppen-Geiger-Photovoltaic climate zones, showing that the typical value considered for the degradation rate on PV design and manufacturer warranties (i.e., 0.5%/a) can vary ± 0.3%/a in the temperate zones of Europe and rise up to 1.5%/a globally. The mapping of degradation mechanisms and total degradation rates is provided for a monocrystalline silicon PV module. Additionally, we analyze the temporal evolution of degradation rates, where a global degradation rate is introduced and its dependence on global ambient temperature demonstrated. Finally, the categorization of degradation rates is made for Europe and worldwide to facilitate the understanding of the climatic stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]