Are Solar Panels Hazardous Waste

According to cancer biologist david h.

Are solar panels hazardous waste.

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. The last few years have seen growing concern over what happens to solar panels at the end of their life. Recently passed legislation authorizes dtsc to adopt regulations to designate used spent solar panels that are hazardous wastes as universal waste. Solar panels generate 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than nuclear power plants.

At forbes michael shellenberger highlights another problem with solar energy. Solar panels create 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than do nuclear power plants. Until the new regulations are adopted solar panels that exhibit characteristics of hazardous waste must be managed as hazardous wastes and not as universal wastes. Silicon tetrachloride a byproduct of producing crystalline silicon is also highly toxic.

If solar and nuclear produce the same amount of electricity over the next 25 years that nuclear produced in 2016 and the wastes are stacked on football fields the nuclear waste would reach the height of the leaning tower of pisa 53 meters while the solar waste would reach the height of two mt. California however is in the process of implementing a new law that reclassifies solar panel waste as a subset of hazardous waste known as universal waste. While disposal of solar panels has taken place in regular landfills it is not recommended because the modules can break and toxic materials can leach into the soil causing problems with drinking water. Worse rainwater can wash many of these toxics out of the fragments of solar modules over time.

Nguyen phd toxic chemicals in solar panels include cadmium telluride copper indium selenide cadmium gallium di selenide copper indium gallium di selenide hexafluoroethane lead and polyvinyl fluoride. It produces vast quantities of hazardous waste which are not being adequately dealt with.