Toxic panels

Even while the solar industry struggles to stay afloat in times of recession, a report from a toxics coalition warns of dangers of unregulated solar growth! The report from the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition talks of the e-waste it generates, comparing it to the ‘mistakes made by the microelectronics industry.’

Making solar panels, in ways similar to semiconductors, also produces toxic byproducts like silicon tetrachloride, dusts and nanoparticles like kerf (a remnant from cutting silicon ingots), besides greenhouse gases like sulfur hexafluoride. Many of these can have deleterious effects on the ecosystem, says the report.

For instance, silicon tetrachloride makes land unsuitable for growing crops. And for each ton of polysilicon produced, four tons of silicon tetrachloride is generated.

The group goes on to advocate a systems thinking approach to products and their entire life cycle from cradle to grave. It suggests regulations on manufacture that force a manufacturer to weigh the risks of using the ingredients against the benefits.

Most customers would naturally go for the cheaper versions and these will obviously have more toxic components. Given that costs plague the solar sector, will regulations affect the industry adversely? Is that a reason not to have regulations?

Alternately, could recycling be made mandatory? Experience shows this route often fails even in the short term. When looking at 20-25 year lifespan, what we will have is tons and tons of junk, some of it toxic too.

This is something we need to think about now, before we go around making new mistakes. Renewable energy from sun and wind will need a lot of manufacture to go beyond the miniscule percentages of the energy pie they occupy now. This manufacture will mean more fossil fuels burnt. Not only that, once these equipment run their lives, they will be pile up the junk on scales we haven’t seen from fossil fuels.

Do we have a plan drawn up on how we deal with all that scrap? In our hurry to escape from one kind of imbroglio, are we rushing into another?

Should we be discussing this at all? Is this making a mountain out of a panel heap? We would love to hear from you.