Can solar panels overheat?

In normal operation solar panels can get extremely hot and the power output reduces as the heat increases.  Panels love sunlight. which produces electricity but ironically, they don’t like heat which makes them produce less electricity.  This is one of the reasons why we ‘oversize’ the panel array. 

You might have seen quotes that state 5kW inverter with 6.6kW of panels.  In reality the inverter can take more than 6.6kW but rebates are only accepted for panels that are limited to one third more than the inverter.  That is the reason why installers always quote panels one third bigger than the inverter.  For example, a ten kW inverter is often sold with 13.3kW of panels. 

If a panel is damaged or develops a fault it can get hot spots within the panel and these typically result in the panel stopping functioning and possibly shattering the glass.  Smartgrid is now ten years old and no evidence of a fire from a solar panel has been heard of.