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What's the useful life of modern solar panels? Will these solar farms have to be decommissioned or retrofit in the future, and will we have to deal with a bunch

What's the useful life of modern solar panels? Will these solar farms have to be decommissioned or retrofit in the future, and will we have to deal with a bunch of toxic material disposal say 30 years from now? I guess it certainly seems like a no-brainer to build these things in deserts with consistent sunlight, but I'm just curious if there are externalities we're not thinking of yet because we haven't had to.

theandrewbailey 8y ago
From what I've read, solar panels slowly decrease to 80-85% of their rated output after about 20 years, then stop decreasing. Even 30 year old panels seem fine[0]. [0] https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/testing-a-thirty-year-old-photovoltaic-module https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/testing-a-thirt...
Janeman544 8y ago
They are pretty much useless without government funding and subsidies.
toomanybeersies 8y ago
When projects like these are planned, they consider the entire lifecycle of the project, including end of life.
- rurounijones 8y ago
  People said the asme thing with Nuclear. Just because they say they are doesn't mean they actually are.
  - jessaustin 8y ago
    When a solar facility is decommissioned you have a bunch of junk, much of which can be recycled. When a nuclear facility is decommissioned you have a bunch of radioactive nuclear waste.
roywiggins 8y ago
Everything has externalities, but imho carbon emitted today is way worse than a smallish amount of toxic waste in 30 years. The worst case scenario for toxic waste is probably the Hanford Site, which is obviously awful but it's not exactly causing global climate catastrophe like carbon might.
Tade0 8y ago
Solar panels are, by weight, mostly(>90%) made up of glass and aluminium. Also most of the environmental footprint of the panels comes from the production process, which requires high temperatures and solvents. All in all it's not much of a problem.
jefurii 8y ago
Are there externalities to coal and other fossil fuel extraction and consumption?

theandrewbailey 8y ago

From what I've read, solar panels slowly decrease to 80-85% of their rated output after about 20 years, then stop decreasing. Even 30 year old panels seem fine[0]. [0] https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/testing-a-thirty-year-old-photovoltaic-module https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/testing-a-thirt...

Janeman544 8y ago

They are pretty much useless without government funding and subsidies.

toomanybeersies 8y ago

When projects like these are planned, they consider the entire lifecycle of the project, including end of life.

rurounijones 8y ago
People said the asme thing with Nuclear. Just because they say they are doesn't mean they actually are.
- jessaustin 8y ago
  When a solar facility is decommissioned you have a bunch of junk, much of which can be recycled. When a nuclear facility is decommissioned you have a bunch of radioactive nuclear waste.

roywiggins 8y ago

Everything has externalities, but imho carbon emitted today is way worse than a smallish amount of toxic waste in 30 years. The worst case scenario for toxic waste is probably the Hanford Site, which is obviously awful but it's not exactly causing global climate catastrophe like carbon might.

Tade0 8y ago

Solar panels are, by weight, mostly(>90%) made up of glass and aluminium. Also most of the environmental footprint of the panels comes from the production process, which requires high temperatures and solvents. All in all it's not much of a problem.

jefurii 8y ago

Are there externalities to coal and other fossil fuel extraction and consumption?