Posted on 02/18/2024 6:49:49 AM PST by AT7Saluki
“While in use, solar panels safely generate electricity without creating any air emissions. However, like any source of energy, there are associated wastes that need to be properly recycled or disposed of when solar panels reach their end of life,” said the EPA. “As the solar photovoltaic (PV) market grows, so will the volume of end-of-life panels.”
By 2030, the United States is expected to have as much as one million total tons of solar panel waste. For comparison, the EPA says the U.S. municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2018 was 292.4 million tons. By 2050, the United States is expected to have the second largest number of end-of-life panels in the world, with as many as an estimated 10 million total tons of panels.
The article writers went on to argue that, based upon their calculations of projected solar panel installation growth and replacement, solar panel waste will exceed new installations by 2031 and more than double by 2035. The result would be that solar energy costs are expected to increase four-fold more than what they are currently. ... The economic incentive to dump solar panels in a landfill is greater than to recycle them. The cost to recycle a single solar panel can range from $15 to $45 compared with only $1 to $5 to dispose of it in a landfill.
(Excerpt) Read more at thesouthern.com ...
The biggest problem with solar panels (other that the obviously higher cost of their electricity) is that they are put on the roofs of buildings where they don’t belong by stupid people. The differential cost of a solar panel on a roof compared with a field of solar panels in the open countryside it probably an order of magnitude. And, its the same electricity being produced. They fail like they were built to last only a couple of years and changing out a $50 panel on your roof will cost you $500. And, a roof repair goes from being a couple hundred dollars to slide in a few shingles or caulk some flashing to a picnic for the solar company.
Suggest you look up “agrovoltaics”.
California shut down huge farms and ranches for the stupid kangaroo rat. They shut down logging for an owl and salmon. Yet somehow not a single endangered species is found where they are installing the huge solar farms. Go figure.
Solar photovoltaic panels are largely being produced in China using electricity generated via coal in power plants with emissions controls that can best be described as primitive by U.S. standards.
But we’re Green! We have solar panels!
A nice idea and term, I suppose.
It’s not what I see in practice out in the world.
See here, for instance.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/gR1VQB2UWNNJSA8WA
I am working on a small space heater that burns spent solar cells and castoff windmill blades. The only issue seems to be the toxic fumes created by the process of incinerating green technology. Perhaps this issue could be overcome with an afterburner fired by sperm whale oil.
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