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This is a really good question, especially since a substantial fraction of the cheap Chinese solar panels produced in the past decade are not even lasting long
by dublin 5y ago
This is a really good question, especially since a substantial fraction of the cheap Chinese solar panels produced in the past decade are not even lasting long enough to fully pay for themselves. Lower-tier Chinese panels are now frequently seen to be delaminating after just 6 or 7 years. At that point, they begin leaching toxic heavy metals into the environment.
Recycling them makes no economic or energy sense, so most will wind up in landfills, poisoning the ground for centuries to come.
- mixmastamyk 5y agoMined elements poisoning the ground you say?
- jazzyjackson 5y agoPoison is a matter of degree, and mining is the process of taking huge volumes of ore and concentrating the metals, so yes you can poison groundwater with material that was previously distributed in the ground
- mixmastamyk 5y agoSolar panels evenly distributed in landfills are not the threat you’re looking for. Not a good place for wells either.
- iseanstevens 5y agoFirst I am hearing of delaminating panels.
- imtringued 5y ago"Toxic heavy metals" aka lead in solder which has been banned a long time ago. Sure, old panels still have lead in their solder.