4 ms·

Sorry for the non-answer: The term "solar cell" refers to a wide variety of technologies[1]. Anything from common semiconductors, rare-earths or even fruit jui

by chm 11y ago

Sorry for the non-answer: The term "solar cell" refers to a wide variety of technologies[1]. Anything from common semiconductors, rare-earths or even fruit juice can be used to make solar cells. The impact will be highly dependent on the type of cell in question. [1]:http://www.nrel.gov/ncpv/images/efficiency_chart.jpg http://www.nrel.gov/ncpv/images/efficiency_chart.jpg The above graph isn't all-encompassing.

leni536 11y ago
Fair enough. I think the most satisfying answer would be the released chemicals and other environmental effects normalized to kWh for various cell types, taking the designed lifetime and recycling into account maybe with some emphasis on cell types that are currently sold for households, or planned to be sold in the not too far future. I'm interested in these questions: - What cell types are currently bought, will be bought in large quantities? - How it affects / will affect the environment?
- pjc50 11y ago
  The first of these links gives an overview of the risks, pointing out that it depends very much on the particular factory's safety record. I don't think normalising is even possible across so many different possibilities. All the risky chemicals can be recycled and non-CO2 emissions neutralised, but this is not always done. It also says the majority type sold is polycrystalline, so CdTe are rare. (Both cadmium and tellurium are quite nasty, but also bound in by the manufacturing process and not prone to leaking) http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/solar-energy-isnt-always-as-green-as-you-think http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/solar-energy-isnt-... The second addresses the carbon cost specifically. http://info.cat.org.uk/questions/pv/what-energy-and-carbon-payback-time-pv-panels-uk http://info.cat.org.uk/questions/pv/what-energy-and-carbon-p...

4 ms·

Sorry for the non-answer: The term "solar cell" refers to a wide variety of technologies[1]. Anything from common semiconductors, rare-earths or even fruit jui

by chm 11y ago

leni536 11y ago
Fair enough. I think the most satisfying answer would be the released chemicals and other environmental effects normalized to kWh for various cell types, taking the designed lifetime and recycling into account maybe with some emphasis on cell types that are currently sold for households, or planned to be sold in the not too far future. I'm interested in these questions: - What cell types are currently bought, will be bought in large quantities? - How it affects / will affect the environment?
- pjc50 11y ago
  The first of these links gives an overview of the risks, pointing out that it depends very much on the particular factory's safety record. I don't think normalising is even possible across so many different possibilities. All the risky chemicals can be recycled and non-CO2 emissions neutralised, but this is not always done. It also says the majority type sold is polycrystalline, so CdTe are rare. (Both cadmium and tellurium are quite nasty, but also bound in by the manufacturing process and not prone to leaking) http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/solar-energy-isnt-always-as-green-as-you-think http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/solar-energy-isnt-... The second addresses the carbon cost specifically. http://info.cat.org.uk/questions/pv/what-energy-and-carbon-payback-time-pv-panels-uk http://info.cat.org.uk/questions/pv/what-energy-and-carbon-p...