Environmenal Impact Of Making Solar Panels

Workers install solar panels in california.

Environmenal impact of making solar panels. Solar energy comes with its own environmental challenges regarding land use water consumption emissions and the use of hazardous materials. The potential environmental impacts associated with solar power land use and habitat loss water use and the use of hazardous materials in manufacturing can vary greatly depending on the technology which includes two broad categories. Environmental impact of solar energy is net positive. The sun provides a tremendous resource for generating clean and sustainable electricity without toxic pollution or global warming emissions.

Although solar energy is a clean alternative to fossil fuels making the panels themselves can have a negative environmental impact. Solar panels have few components. A frame cells backsheet protective film conductors and a tempered glass cover. The frame is aluminum the cells are silicon the conductors are copper and the backsheet.

With recycling expensive. Let s shine a light on those environmental impacts and determine if the good outweighs the bad when it comes to solar energy and the environment. True a plant making solar panels uses power which for the time being doesn t necessarily come from a zero carbon source itself. In 1970 the average energy payback time for solar panels was 40 years.

Building wind turbines and nuclear power plants takes large quantities of concrete and steel while fossil fuels have to be extracted and transported by machines and vehicles and the infrastructure. Using solar energy can have a positive indirect effect on the environment when solar energy replaces or reduces the use of other energy sources that have larger effects on the environment. In may 2018 michael shellenberger a time magazine hero of the environment and green book award winner wrote in forbes that the problem of solar panel disposal will explode with full force in two or three decades and wreck the environment because it is a huge amount of waste which is not easy to recycle. Environmental scientists and solar industry leaders are raising the red flag about used solar panels which contain toxic heavy metals and are considered hazardous waste.

The good news is that while the epbt of a solar panel is dependent on many factors the market is moving in the right direction. Whilst there are many negative environmental impacts to consider most of these are negligible. This carbon debt applies to all sources of energy. By 2010 that number had dropped to just six months.

How are solar panels made and what are the environmental impacts of that process. However some toxic materials and chemicals are used to make the photovoltaic pv cells that convert sunlight into electricity.