Renewable Energy Paradox: Solar Panels and Their Toxic Waste

Solar panels are not as "green" as we are led to believe.

There is a massive push to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for "the preservation of our home planet."

Solar Panels ate represented as being completely sustainable, such claims often gloss over – or worse, ignore – the very real damage caused through the production and use of this technology.

Maybe Solar PV panels don't need to be abandoned outright, but  a more honest, and realistic conversation needs to be had about them. 

This study found that solar panels (over their lifetime) create somewhere in the region of 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than nuclear power plants. 

Of course, the nature of the waste generated between the two is very different, but the quantity of the latter cannot be ignored. The most likely final location for this waste is in landfills. 

Silicon, created from quartz, involves mining which has all the health and safety issues that that mining entails. Silica, similar to asbestos, also has some potential health problems associated with inhaling small particles.

Production of this grade of silicon takes place in giant furnaces, which consume a lot of energy to keep them running. In most cases, the energy is provided through the combustion of fossil fuels either directly or from power stations supplying electricity to the grid. 

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