China Solar Panels Pollution

China s ageing solar panels are going to be a big environmental problem the issue of how to dispose of hazardous waste from ageing panels casts a shadow over the drive towards renewable energy.

China solar panels pollution.

But the view from solar panel factories is sometimes a little different. Solar panels 15 less productive due to pollution. They also contain lead cadmium and other toxic even carcinogenic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. Protests last month exposed pollution problems at a manufacturing site in zhejiang province which according to industry insiders are just the tip of the iceberg.

Solar panels have been heralded as the alternative to fossil fuels for decades. Air pollution in china has gotten so bad the sun can t reach solar panels that were installed to help reduce smog in the first place according to a new study. With recycling expensive. Environmental scientists and solar industry leaders are raising the red flag about used solar panels which contain toxic heavy metals and are considered hazardous waste.

Symbolic of an era of new energy the solar industry presents a bright and clean image to the world. But while generating electricity through photovoltaics is indeed better for the environment than burning fossil fuels several incidents have linked the manufacture of these shining symbols of environmental virtue to a trail of chemical pollution. Researchers at switzerland s institute for atmospheric and climate science found that solar panels in china produced 15 less electricity in 2015 than they would ve in 1960 due to the rising amount of pollution mainly from coal plants blocking sunlight from hitting the ground. Most readers have likely seen exciting headlines claiming we could power the world s energy demands multiple times were we simply to cover the sahara desert with a solar farm the size of china.

Solar panels generate 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than nuclear power plants.