The solar industry has been touted as one of the most pristine forms of renewable energy available. Unfortunately, photovoltaic cells contain toxic metals that must be disposed of.
The problem isn't the toxins or the groundwater, it's the $20-$30 cost to recycle. That's caused by recycling still being a largely manual process. We need policy to encourage automated recycling of everything from solar panels to batteries and more conventional waste. Governments declare everything hazardous, encumbering the process with onerous regulations that don't acknowledge that everything is extracted from nature and will return to nature one-way or another. Dust to dust. Living organisms are built to handle toxins, so reasonable precautions to avoid overdoses is sufficient. The solar panels are no more toxic in a landfill than on a roof, so the main effect of stigmatizing products is to inhibit recycling, not to encourage it. Encourage rational recycling and it will proliferate, and economics will produce the efficiencies to make it safe, effective and cheap. Government is our most pernicious toxic waste.
" no more toxic in a landfill than on a roof" - as long as the glass cover remains intact. One might think mishandling in the process of delivery to the landfill will cause he panel to crack. Whether the amounts leached out over time once in the landfill is a question. Most landfills are now lined to reduce soil leaching but the durability of that is questionable. I once read that landfill researchers had found really old newspapers were still intact after a very long period. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338358729_Landfill).
We used to just dump it in rivers, or the oceans. We've come a long way, but still have room for improvement. My local waste contractor encumbered customers with 3 large bins, one for recyclables, one for vegetation, one for everything else. Some customers get it right, most need to become more aware. The processing plant further sorts it. They do pretty good but lots of room to improve there, too. A lot less is going to landfills, but we're getting better at that, too. We know how to eliminate toxins but lack the will to perfect it. We will, over time.
Quite a problem we have created. Research is ongoing for less toxic materials in panels. Whether fabrication standards allowing for easy disassembling can be established in a rapidly changing technology is unclear. Few products are designed for that. In reality planned obsolesce is the real standard. I have a very old microwave oven that still works over 35 years, one of the original Amana devices. Newer ones are designed to last ~ 6-8 years! Same with refrigerators with home models ~ 10 years vs industrial models ~ 25 years, simply related to compressor lifetimes. Those compressor physical sizes are quite different. While compressors aren't that expensive they are not easily removed and replaced, by design.
Things of real performance decline, like Li-ion cells and solar cells need to be built for emplacement and recycling but standards/laws need to force that effort. Piles of turbine blades, Li-ion batteries and solar panels are accumulating with no real answers.
The problem isn't the toxins or the groundwater, it's the $20-$30 cost to recycle. That's caused by recycling still being a largely manual process. We need policy to encourage automated recycling of everything from solar panels to batteries and more conventional waste. Governments declare everything hazardous, encumbering the process with onerous regulations that don't acknowledge that everything is extracted from nature and will return to nature one-way or another. Dust to dust. Living organisms are built to handle toxins, so reasonable precautions to avoid overdoses is sufficient. The solar panels are no more toxic in a landfill than on a roof, so the main effect of stigmatizing products is to inhibit recycling, not to encourage it. Encourage rational recycling and it will proliferate, and economics will produce the efficiencies to make it safe, effective and cheap. Government is our most pernicious toxic waste.
" no more toxic in a landfill than on a roof" - as long as the glass cover remains intact. One might think mishandling in the process of delivery to the landfill will cause he panel to crack. Whether the amounts leached out over time once in the landfill is a question. Most landfills are now lined to reduce soil leaching but the durability of that is questionable. I once read that landfill researchers had found really old newspapers were still intact after a very long period. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338358729_Landfill).
We used to just dump it in rivers, or the oceans. We've come a long way, but still have room for improvement. My local waste contractor encumbered customers with 3 large bins, one for recyclables, one for vegetation, one for everything else. Some customers get it right, most need to become more aware. The processing plant further sorts it. They do pretty good but lots of room to improve there, too. A lot less is going to landfills, but we're getting better at that, too. We know how to eliminate toxins but lack the will to perfect it. We will, over time.
Quite a problem we have created. Research is ongoing for less toxic materials in panels. Whether fabrication standards allowing for easy disassembling can be established in a rapidly changing technology is unclear. Few products are designed for that. In reality planned obsolesce is the real standard. I have a very old microwave oven that still works over 35 years, one of the original Amana devices. Newer ones are designed to last ~ 6-8 years! Same with refrigerators with home models ~ 10 years vs industrial models ~ 25 years, simply related to compressor lifetimes. Those compressor physical sizes are quite different. While compressors aren't that expensive they are not easily removed and replaced, by design.
Things of real performance decline, like Li-ion cells and solar cells need to be built for emplacement and recycling but standards/laws need to force that effort. Piles of turbine blades, Li-ion batteries and solar panels are accumulating with no real answers.