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| Science & Technology |
| Solar Panel Waste: A Disposal Problem |
| 2018-12-26 |
| [IOTWREPORT] The last few years have seen growing concern over what happens to solar panels at the end of their life. Consider the following statements: ‐ 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. ‐ Solar panels create 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than do nuclear power plants. If solar and nuclear produce the same amount of electricity over the next 25 years that nuclear produced in 2016, and the wastes are stacked on football fields, the nuclear waste would reach the height of the Leaning Tower of Pisa (53 meters), while the solar waste would reach the height of two Mt. Everests (16 km). ‐ Contrary to previous assumptions, pollutants such as lead or carcinogenic cadmium can be almost completely washed out of the fragments of solar modules over a period of several months by rain water. ‐ In countries like China, India, and Ghana, people living near e-waste dumps often burn the waste in order to salvage the valuable copper wires for resale. Since this process requires burning off plastic, the resulting smoke contains toxic fumes that are carcinogenic and teratogenic (birth-defect causing) when inhaled. Solar photovoltaic panels, whose operating life is 20 to 30 years, lose productivity over time. The International Renewable Energy Agency estimated that there were about 250,000 metric tons of solar panel waste in the world at the end of 2016 and that this figure would definitely increase. Solar panels contain lead, cadmium, and other toxic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. In November 2016, Japan’s Environment Ministry issued a warning that the amount of solar panel waste Japan produces each year is likely to increase from 10,000 to 800,000 tons by 2040, and the country has no plan for safely disposing of it. A recent report found that it would take 19 years for Toshiba Environmental Solutions to finish recycling all of the solar waste Japan produced by 2020. By 2034, the annual waste production will be 70 to 80 time larger than that of 2020. |
| Posted by:Anomalous Sources |
| #8 Solar power doesn't "Scale" very well. A solar cell on a pocket calculator is well and good, on a single family dwelling it is iffy, and on a commercial scale energy supplier that needs to run 24/7/365 it is a joke. Maybe the develop of orbiting Solar Power Satellites will be a solution, but on Earth... Dream on. |
| Posted by: magpie 2018-12-26 14:48 |
| #7 @#6: Enter PETA: This Mojave Desert solar plant kills 6,000 birds a year. Here's why that won't change any time soon |
| Posted by: Anomalous Sources 2018-12-26 13:11 |
| #6 All forms of energy production have pros and cons. Solar in use is nice and clean. The manufacturing and disposal not as much. Nuclear has the issue of fuel rods and the general low level waste. Hydro has its own issues. About the cleanest over all is probably some sort of solar termal. Using mirrors to heat a working fluid to run a steam turbine. Maybe one day we will finally have workable fusion |
| Posted by: Cheaderhead 2018-12-26 11:35 |
| #5 This is why I laugh at environmentalists. I also point out their fancy cell phones and tablets are chock full of oil products and considered hazardous waste due to batteries and rare earth metals. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2018-12-26 07:54 |
| #4 To understand this properly, we need to compare the disposal problems inherent in solar panels to similar problems involved with disposal of wornout computers, TV sets, smartphones & all modern electronic claptrap. Also include what happens during the manufacturing processes of this stuff. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2018-12-26 06:22 |
| #3 I forgot to mention this little beauty. "...The 30 percent tax credit on solar panels that were supposed to expire in 2016 has been extended all the way to 2019." And this is only at the Federal level. States and Munis may be handing out additional Blue Pills Call your local Building Department and get the stix on Photovoltatic permits issued Y/Y. This will give y-o-u some indication as to where your tax $ are going. |
| Posted by: Anomalous Sources 2018-12-26 01:22 |
| #2 And recycling benefits us how? |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2018-12-26 00:49 |
| #1 Passive solar heating/cooling shows promise if designed into the original structure (for example install a solar water heater or a Solar Chimney). Solar electric has its niche usages but always seems to be the Technology of the Future™. |
| Posted by: magpie 2018-12-26 00:24 |