Solar Waste Concerns

Environmentalists' bright promises of utilizing solar energy to power the world are darkening quickly as it becomes clear how much dangerous trash is generated with tons of old panels being discarded in landfill sites, reports Rob Lyons. ¹ The millions of solar panels headed for landfill are a veritable toxic cocktail of gallium arsenide, tellurium, silver, crystalline silicon, lead, cadmium, and heavy earth metals.

By 2050 up to 78 million metric tons of solar panels will have reached the end of their life

The International Renewable Energy Agency projects that by 2050 up to 78 million metric tons of solar panels will have reached the end of their life, and that the world will be generating about 6 million metric tons of new solar e-waste annually. While the latter number is a small fraction of the total e-waste humanity produces each year, standard electronics recycling methods don't cut it for solar panels. Recovering the most valuable materials from one, including silver and silicon, requires special recycling methods. ² “If we don't mandate recycling, many of the modules will go to landfill,” said Arizona State University solar researcher Meng Tao, who recently authored a review paper on recycling silicon solar panels, which comprise 95 percent of the solar market. ³ When solar panels reach the end of their life today, they face a few possible fates. Under EU law, producers are required to ensure their solar panels are recycled properly. In Japan, India, and Australia, recycling requirements are in the works. In the United States, it's the Wild West. With the exception of a state law in Washington, the US has no solar recycling mandates whatsoever. Voluntary industry recycling efforts are limited in scope. Right now around 10 percent of solar panels are recycled. The rest go to landfills or are exported overseas for reuse in developing countries with weak environmental protections. ²

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A recent article in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) reviews solar panel waste. Solar panels are supposed to last for 30 years, and calculations about how much waste will be produced are based on that assumption. The trouble is that as the panels have gotten cheaper, and a bit more efficient, the economics have changed. Replacing them sooner could make a lot of sense, financially. As the authors of the HBR review point out, this could lead to a tsunami of solar panel waste. “If early replacements occur as predicted by our statistical model, they can produce 50 times more waste in just four years than the International Renewable Energy Agency anticipates. That figure translates to around 315,000 metric tons of waste, based on an estimate of 90 tons per MW weight-to-power ratio.” And that estimate is just for domestic solar panel users. Throw in commercial users too, and the mountain of waste will be enormous. ⁴ Supporters of solar will say the panels can simply be recycled. But there isn't much of value to be stripped from old solar panels. They are mostly made of glass, and they're a pain to remove and transport safely. Recycling could cost $20-$30 per panel. Landfill, by contrast, would cost $1-$2 per panel. So, if we're going to recycle the panels, we need to work out who is going to pay the difference. One solution when it comes to electronic waste is to put the burden on manufacturers. Yet, these days, the vast majority of solar panels are coming from China, so who is going to force those manufacturers to pay? ¹ Discover magazine reported that “it is often cheaper to discard them in landfills or send them to developing countries. As solar panels sit in dumps, the toxic metals they contain can leach out into the environment and possibly pose a public health hazard if they get into the groundwater supply.” ⁵ Rob Lyons notes, “Unfortunately, the way the problems associated with the rush to 'net zero' are just being glossed over. The policy is astonishingly expensive, and it faces real technical and economic challenges. If we don't take the problems of 'net zero' seriously, the real result will be economic hardship, unreliable power networks, and limitations imposed on our lives. All of this as China, India, and other developing countries rightly power their way out of poverty with coal, gas and oil, while producing far more emissions than we could ever save. Impoverishing ourselves to achieve nothing is the epitome of irrationality.” ¹

References

1. Rob Lyons, “Solar panels are creating 50 times more waste than predicted, and much of it is toxic. Our race to 'net zero' is madness,” rt.com, June 24, 2021
2. “Solar panels are starting to die, leaving behind toxic trash,” wired.com, August 20, 2020
3. Meng Tao et al., “Major challenges and opportunities in silicon solar module recycling,” Progress in Photovoltaics, 28, 1077, October 2020
4. Atalay Atasu et al., “The dark side of solar power,” hbr.org, June 18, 2021
5. Conor Prendergast, “Solar panel waste: the dark side of clean energy,” discovermagazine.com, December 14, 2020