Ecological Drawbacks of Solar Panels

At one point, I depended entirely on solar energy for all of my home energy consumptions. This was a major point of pride to me, and I still hope that I can one day re-live my off-grid experience. Solar energy offers a tremendous advantage over fossil fuels. However, home solar panels are not without their down-sides. The manufacture, installation and disposal of a solar panel does come with some ecological drawbacks.

Solar panels are made from materials that create health and safety hazards for workers who mine, extract and modify these substances. The manufacture of photovoltaic (PV) cells involves toxic heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic and chromium. Other toxic substances like trichlorilane, sulfur hexafluoride, trichloroethane, acetone, ammonia and nitrogen trifluoride are also involved in the manufacture of solar panels.

The most common form of modern solar panel contains crystalline silicon, which contains cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium selenide, and other unpronouncable chemicals with potentially toxic efffects. Like workers who mine fossil fuels, the workers who create these panels may experience long-term health effects that are not yet understood. Additionally, they breathe large amounts of silicon dust, which is a known carcinogen.

Solar panels also require energy to produce them, and, unless they are made from solar energy, this will result in the burning of fossil fuels. In fact, the amount of energy needed to produce a solar panel is almost as high as the amount of energy that the solar panel itself will generate. So, while solar energy itself is sustainable, the manufacture of solar panels is not. The amount of embodied energy in a solar panel is a major ecological drawback.

Waste disposal is another ecological drawback of solar energy. After reaching the end of their usable life-span, solar panels will require disposal, and we do not yet have a good method for preventing this problem. In a few hundred years, solar panel disposal may be ecologically catastrophic as our landfills overflow with toxic e-waste.

Are the benefits of solar energy worth the drawbacks? In my opinion, yes. At the end of the day, solar energy is still greener than fossil fuels. And consumer interest will fuel increased research to create a truly green solar panel. In the mean time, the best way to reduce your carbon footprint is to minimize your own energy consumption-- regardless of what kind of energy feeds your home.