Another issue is that solar panels only last 5 to 10 years
This is completely false. There are solar-panels that are still in operation after 30 years easily.
These figures usually come from commercial operations where it is cheaper to replace them with new ones when they drop some percentage of efficiency. Basically 20 year old panels only have 80% of the original efficiency, so in some places where space is premium the new panels pay for themselves and thus is it economical to replace the old ones after 10 years or so.
This is completely false. There are solar-panels that are still in operation after 30 years easily.
These figures usually come from commercial operations where it is cheaper to replace them with new ones when they drop some percentage of efficiency. Basically 20 year old panels only have 80% of the original efficiency, so in some places where space is premium the new panels pay for themselves and thus is it economical to replace the old ones after 10 years or so.