Generally, lifetime of devices themselves is many years. Our customers have devices that were deployed on animals 7 years ago and they are still working well.
However, following factors might limit the device operating time:
If solar panels of the device are covered with feather / fur / lot of dirt, it might block the charging completely. Then, after some time device will deplete it's battery and stop operating. This is highly species dependent, as on some species it will be easy to attach the device in a way that provides sunlight exposure for multiple years, but on some species it might be completely impossible.
If animal dies or device falls off the animal, it might also stop operating soon, as most likely solar panels will stop being exposed to sunlight during this process. However, our customers had some cases when animals died in unreachable places, and their loggers were transmitting for 2+ years from there.
Device could be damaged by the animal carrying it or other animal (e.g. predator). Fortunately this happens rarely, as devices are durable and also majority of animals is not trying to damage them. If you know that your species is extra tough on telemetry devices, we can make them as durable as you need (including making casings from titanium if you need extreme level of protection). Although, in vast majority of cases, standard casings are more than enough to withstand many years of operation.
If devices were customized and part of that customization was removing the solar panel, then of course their operating time will be limited by the battery capacity (as they have no solar charging). Exact time depends on the battery size. After it gets depleted, user will need to recharge the battery.
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