Solar panel recycling could mitigate the risk that they pose, and luckily, effective methods do exist. Lead is commonly known to impair brain development in children, and cadmium is a carcinogen. These metals also have a record for detrimental effects on human health. Studies have shown the heavy metals in solar panels - namely lead and cadmium - can leach out of the cells and get into groundwater, as well as affect plants. As society continues to adopt solar power, this problem may worsen in the coming decades, with almost 80 million tons of solar waste projected by 2050. Potential leaching of these metals into the surrounding environment can pose a public health problem, especially in a nation without the necessary disposal infrastructure. While a properly-built landfill should contain most hazardous material in the waste, a developing country may not have the infrastructure or regulations to properly dispose of imported solar panel waste. Since the process is costly and time-consuming, it’s more convenient for solar companies to drop the dead panels into landfills or export them to third-world countries. Most solar recycling plants simply remove the valuable silver and copper from the cells and then recycle the contaminated glass and plastic casing by burning them in cement ovens. In fact, it often costs companies more to recycle a solar panel than to produce a solar panel. This makes solar cells difficult to recycle, since it will take considerable energy to extract hazardous metals. Normally silicon is recyclable, but to improve the solar cells’ electrical efficiency, metals such as cadmium and lead are added. Production commonly includes nitrogen trifluoride and sulfur hexafluoride, some of the most harmful greenhouse gases around. Very pure silicon must be used because the crystal structure it forms is most conducive to letting electrons flow. These electrons are carried through the cell via traces of metal impurities added to the silicon, and copper wires carry it away as electrical currents. When silicon atoms are hit with sunlight, an electron gets ejected and creates a spark that’s similar to what happens when you microwave metal.

The cells require very pure silicon to work properly. Together, they form the energy-producing components that convert sunlight into electricity.

Each cell making up a solar panel is sandwiched by an aluminum and glass layer. What’s in a Solar Panel?Ī solar panel is essentially made up of several sheets of silicon crystals called cells. As solar panels sit in dumps, the toxic metals they contain can leech out into the environment and possibly pose a public health hazard if they get into the groundwater supply. Because it's not easy to properly dispose of the toxic metals inside the solar cells - and there's an overall lack of oversight - it is often cheaper to discard them in landfills or send them to developing countries. Since they were first introduced in the 2000s, literal tons of solar panels are reaching the end of their lifespan. To add to that, solar panels have an operating lifespan of around 20 to 30 years. Manufacturing solar panels often requires the use of several noxious chemicals. Questions remain about whether their production and waste creates more pollutants than the fossil fuels they aim to replace.

But there are a few problems with solar energy that’s seldom talked about. Solar cells are becoming easier to produce, along with becoming increasingly compact and portable. On paper, solar energy seems more promising than ever.

Solar ash ending