3 ms·
"Heavy fallout" overstates standard maintenance and replacement practices.
by dehrmann 5y ago
"Heavy fallout" overstates standard maintenance and replacement practices.
- dmitriid 5y agoWhich has never been standard until it became commonplace. And it only became commonplace in the past 10 years or so. Just to quote Wikipedia: == start quote == CdTe and CIGS solar cells contain cadmium, a toxic heavy metal with a tendency to accumulate in the food chain. Solder used in installation also contains lead. Leftover PV panels can contaminate soil, as it happened in 2013 when US-based Solyndra solar farm bankrupted leaving broken panels on site. IRENA 2016 study estimated the amount of PV waste at 78 millions tons by 2050... A 2021 study by Harvard Business Review indicates that by 2035 the discarded panels will outweigh new units by a factor of 2.56 and cost of recycling a single PV panel by then will reach $20-30, which would increase the LCOE of PV by a factor 4. == end quote ==