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Solar panels contain quite a bit of lead, and small amounts of cadmium. Lead can be taken out if you're willing to pay a bit more, in other words it never is. C
by spwa4 9mo ago
Solar panels contain quite a bit of lead, and small amounts of cadmium. Lead can be taken out if you're willing to pay a bit more, in other words it never is. Cadmium is required. Other metals are sometimes present.
So solar panels are classified as hazardous waste.
- philipkglass 9mo agoCadmium is only required in cadmium telluride solar panels, which have less than 5% global market share. Lead solder is still common in crystalline silicon panels, though not universal; modules built with heterojunction cells typically avoid solder because the cells can't tolerate temperatures that high: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pip.3688 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pip.3688