Pollution Making Solar Panels

The average lifespan of a solar panel is about 20 years but high temperatures as in the mojave desert can accelerate the aging process for solar cells and snow dust and other natural events tornadoes earthquakes can cause material fatigue on the surface and in the internal electric circuits gradually reducing the panel s power.

Pollution making solar panels.

Although solar energy is a clean alternative to fossil fuels making the panels themselves can have a negative environmental impact. Increasingly however there are fears that making solar cells might release more hazardous pollution than fossil. While solar panels are considered a form of clean renewable energy the manufacturing process does produce greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally to produce solar panels manufacturers need to handle toxic chemicals.

Analysts also judge the impact of the energy used to make a solar panel by the amount of carbon generated in the production of that energy a number that can vary widely. To make solar panels the raw material must be mined this is predominantly quartz which is processed into silicon. Solar panels are subsidized to an enormous extent as are solar farms be they public or private. Solar energy has long been touted as better for the environment than fossil fuels.

Aluminum and copper or silver are also key materials involved which must be mined or obtained from recycled sources but mostly they are mined due to the increased expansion of the pv industry in the last 10 years. This zeitgeist is reflected in solar panel sales. Workers install solar panels in california. The first step is a fee on solar panel purchases to make sure that the cost of safely removing recycling or storing solar panel waste is internalized into the price of solar panels and not.

As an environmentally conscious consumer you can make a positive impact by requesting information from installers concerning the manufacturers of their products. As clean energy spreads more of the energy used for solar panel production will itself be generated from renewable sources reducing the lifecycle emissions of solar panels even more. However solar panels are not emitting toxins into the atmosphere as they re generating electricity.