Consider the following statements: Were these statements made by the right-wing Heritage Foundation? [A]ny mechanism that finances the cost of recycling PV modules with current revenues is not sustainable. None of this will come quickly, or easily, and some solar industry executives will resist internalizing the cost of safely storing, or recycling, solar panel waste, perhaps for understandable reasons. Cadmium Telluride Panel Integrity and Safety Executive Summary • It is important to distinguish that Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) is not the same as free Cadmium. “Putting it as universal waste eliminates the testing requirement.”. “Leaching potential test results show that such panels have a leaching potential of approximately 4 grams of lead per kilowatt installed, compared to approximately 23 grams of cadmium per kilowatt installed for CdTe panels. Lessons From A Chicken Wire Stack On Moon, Global Cooling: Beware the Snowman Cometh. They are really only good for the end user who is isolated from the grid or wants to use less power from the grid. For large scale energy production, solar panels were a bad investment in the first place. Portions copyright © Principia Scientific International. Have you any evidence that nature works as you say? The answer is no. “Any modules that were broken into small bits of glass had to be swept from the ground,” Mulvaney explained, “so lots of rocks and dirt got mixed in that would not work in recycling plants that are designed to take modules. The main finding promoted by IRENA’s in its 2016 report was that, “If fully injected back into the economy, the value of the recovered material [from used solar panels] could exceed USD 15 billion by 2050.”, But IRENA’s study did not compare the value of recovered material to the cost of new materials and admitted that “Recent studies agree that PV material availability is not a major concern in the near term, but critical materials might impose limitations in the long term.”, They might, but today recycling costs more than the economic value of the materials recovered, which is why most solar panels end up in landfills. The Two Bottles Experiment Explained, Older PROM papers are now under the Publications menu, “The reality is that there is a problem now, and it’s only going to get larger, expanding as rapidly as the PV industry expanded 10 years ago.”, “Contrary to previous assumptions, pollutants such as lead or carcinogenic cadmium can be almost completely washed out of the fragments of solar modules over a period of several months, for example by rainwater.”. What will be the wettest month in Californian next year, and which day will be the hottest in Berlin 2 years from now? No gas at any concentration can warm the atmosphere or climate, gravity does that. In relation to solar panels, the CdTe is safe while encapsulated in the module, but if the panel is damaged and exposed to water, the cadmium telluride could leach into the water. You are not a skeptic. ‘COVID-19: The Politics of a Pandemic Moral Panic’ – Book Excerpt, Researchers: people irrationally reject anti-lockdown findings, Israeli Scientists Prove Trump Correct on UV Light Killing COVID19, ‘This Is Not a Vaccine, it Is Irreversible Genetic Modification’ say Doctor, Coronavirus – A perspective from Britain Part 18, Solar flare in 774 AD changed Earth’s atmospheric chemistry, Science That Doesn’t Add Up: A Discussion Paper, Professor Dolores Cahill: People Will Start Dying After COVID Vaccine, Greenhouse Gas? So get over it and stop being a wannabe childish bully. James McGinn, James McGinn: Solar panels often contain lead, cadmium, and other toxic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. You are an ideologue. German researchers at the Stuttgart Institute for Photovoltaics warned that poor and developing nations are at higher risk of suffering the consequences. Time Magazine “Hero of the Environment.”. ” said EPRI’s Cara Libby. From your link I see lots of negativity against current thinking — all well and fine but where is your science? At the meeting, the representatives from industry and DTSC all acknowledged how difficult it would be to test to determine whether a solar panel being removed would be classified as hazardous waste or not. It involves making an effort. Low demand for scrap and the high cost of employing workers to disassemble the aluminum frames and other components will make it difficult to create a profitable business unless recycling companies can charge several times more than the target set by [Japan’s environment ministry]. Aside from this contaminated water entering the wider environment through stormwater runoff, this issue raises concerns particularly where rainwater is harvested from a rooftop for use within the building. I could expect a brainwashed school kid to say that but a doctor – incredible. But about 70 percent of the modules were actually sent to recycling, and the recycled metals are in new panels today.”. “We estimate there are 100,000 pounds of cadmium contained in the 1.8 million panels,” Sean Fogarty of Concerned Citizens of Fawn Lake stated to Shellenberger. Most likely, he … I wrongly b…, ...........and accomplish their population control…, Jerry: And I pointed to the observed fact that onc…, So, this jab is actually designed to cause an auto…, Hi TL, You just wrote: "Of course, if a lamp is us…, Yes James I completely agree, we need constant exp…, I agree Linden, and I have said exactly the same a…, Yes, indeed we must share the facts, but a wise pe…, Right on, Linden. The first step is a fee on solar panel purchases to make sure that the cost of safely removing, recycling or storing solar panel waste is internalized into the price of solar panels and not externalized onto future taxpayers. They just want them cheap… There, there is lots of land to install a large amount of panels to make up for their low performance. Currently, citizens have the right to file lawsuits against government agencies and corporations to force them to abide by various environmental laws, including ones that protect the public from toxic waste. Some compounds containing cadmium are thought to be carcinogenic. When growth levels off then PV producers would face rapidly increasing recycling costs as a percentage of revenues. Research paper by Adriana A Ramos-Ruiz, Jean V JV Wilkening, James A JA Field, Reyes R Sierra-Alvarez. Why Do Jet Streams Exist? All the phoneys that came before were happy to provide you with the tools with which you could pretend to understand what you actually don’t understand. If so show it — AND STOP SHOUTING ABUSE! From pv magazine International.. Give it up already .. stupid moron. And when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last September, the nation’s second largest solar farm, responsible for 40 percent of the island’s solar energy, lost a majority of its panels. They will rightly note that there are other kinds of electronic waste in the world. Rather, the quotes come from a senior Chinese solarofficial, a 40-year veteran of the U.S. solar industry, and research scientistswith the German Stuttgart Institute for Photovoltaics. That claim has been contradicted by the previously-mentioned Stuttgart research scientists who found cadmium from solar panels “can be almost completely washed out…over a period of several months…by rainwater.”. • CdTe is a very stable compound that is non-volatile and non-soluble in water. Cadmium fumes may cause flu like symptoms and more severe respiratory problems. PV array made of cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar panels Cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaics describes a photovoltaic (PV) technology that is based on the use of cadmium telluride in a thin semiconductor layer designed to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity. Cadmium telluride solar cell, also called cadmium telluride photovoltaic or cadmium telluride thin film, a photovoltaic device that produces electricity from light by using a thin film of cadmium telluride (CdTe). Everyone is happy with the result.”. California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), which is implementing the new regulations, held a meeting last August with solar and waste industry representatives to discuss how to deal with the issue of solar waste. There really isn’t much difference between yourselves and Dr. Dumbass: Climate science has become a religion based on liberal values, couched in scientific vagueness and self-righteous indignation. Till you can answer those simple question then you are as lost as the rest of us. Solar cells, wind bird shredders and biofuels are net energy LOSERS. The rest of a solar panel is made of the aluminum frame, a glass cover, a couple layers called the encapsulant and backsheet which are made of various plastics, and the wiring. My writings have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, Nature Energy,…, Michael Shellenberger, President, Environmental Progress. TomOMason: In addition to atmospheric pollution, coal burning produces hundreds of millions of tons of solid waste products annually, including fly ash, bottom ash, and flue-gas desulfurization sludge, that contain mercury, uranium, thorium, arsenic, and other heavy metals. Explain why should anyone believe your ideas? Leaching of cadmium and tellurium from cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar panels under simulated landfill conditions Author links open overlay panel Adriana Ramos-Ruiz Jean V. Wilkening 1 James A. Alternate silicon-based solar panels have similar issues with lead leaching, although cadmium is suggested to be 10 times more hazardous than Lead. The advantage of this fund over extended producer responsibility is that it would insure that solar panels are safely decommissioned, recycled, or stored over the long-term, even after solar manufacturers go bankrupt. Where are your scientific papers, your verified measurements? “The theory behind the regulations is to make [disposal] less burdensome,” explained Rick Brausch of DTSC. Is Sustainable Energy Even Possible Globally? CO2 driving dangerous climate change. James McGinn: An Indian research team has analyzed around 300 scientific studies about PV panel waste containing carcinogenic metals. “We have a County and State approval process over the next couple months,” Fogarty of Concerned Citizens of Fawn Lake told me, “but it has become clear that local authorities have very little technical breadth to analyze the impacts of such a massive solar power plant.”, Lack of technical expertise can be a problem when solar developers like Sustainable Power Group, or sPower, incorrectly claim that the cadmium in its panels is not water soluble. Leaching of cadmium and tellurium from cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar panels under simulated landfill conditions Author: Ramos-Ruiz, Adriana, Wilkening, Jean V., Field, James A., Sierra-Alvarez, Reyes Source: Journal of hazardous materials 2017 v.336 pp. Solar panels glimmering in the sun are an icon of all that is green. TomOMason: If so show it — AND STOP SHOUTING ABUSE! You are a pretend skeptic. NO, none of you have, without those carefully made and verified measurements giving evidence that your theory is correct, and can be useful in predicting with good accuracy what the weather and climate will do in the future it is not that worthy. Perhaps you have the correct course, perhaps you are on the right road, without verified evidence you have nothing! Like all the rest of the pretenders that populate PSI, you only started caring when you saw that your political opponents were getting away with something. And as the problem of the secondary market for solar shows, ultimately there needs to be some kind of international regulation. The attitude of some solar recyclers in China appears to feed this concern. The fact that cadmium can be washed out of solar modules by rainwater is increasingly a concern for local environmentalists like the Concerned Citizens of Fawn Lake in Virginia, where a 6,350 acre solar farm to partly power Microsoft data centers is being proposed. | ACN: 632 317 545 | ABN: 41 632 317 545, SOLAR HOTLINE: 1800-EMATTERS (1800 362 883), Tasmania’s New Solar Incentive For Business, Home Solar Power Systems Boost House Value. These were the cadmium-based modules that failed [hazardous] waste tests, so were treated at a [hazardous] waste facility. The fact that cadmium can be washed out of solar modules by rainwater is increasingly a concern for local environmentalists like the Concerned Citizens of … Adriana Ramos-Ruiz, Jean V. Wilkening, James A. In other words, there are firms that may advertise themselves as “solar panel recyclers” but instead sell panels to a secondary markets in nations with less developed waste disposal systems. *Corresponding author: sethrobinson@ufl.edu James McGinn: Research shows that “leaching of trace metals from modules is unlikely to present a significant risk due to the sealed nature of the installed cells.” Some solar modules use cadmium telluride (CdTe). Our Redshift Environment: Living On The Edge, Quantum Mechanics and Raman Spectroscopy Refute Greenhouse Theory, Messier 87 – Virgo A Supergiant Elliptical Galaxy, Windfarms, An Ingenuous Engineering Concept, If Properly Operated, Black Hole Radiation (1) Entangled Gravity, The Role Of Geomagnetic Induction Heating In Climate Change, http://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=16329, https://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=16432, Under Investigation: Death of doctor after COVID-19 vaccination. Last July, Washington became the first U.S. state to require manufacturers selling solar panels to have a plan to recycle. There is real-world precedent for this concern. With solar panels, added to the toxicity of manufacture, the lack of recyclability, relatively short lifetime, huge environmental and geographical foodprint, huge infrastructure, huge maintenance, and unreliability (the sun sets or it is cloudy, we can add fragility and exposure to the elements, which causes damage and aging. ... First Solar has meanwhile been steadily reducing the amount of cadmium used in its solar cells. This has to be weighed against that cadmium is considered approximately 10 times more hazardous than lead,” Westgaard said. To me you guys are just as lost as all the meteorologists and climatologists are currently — and all of you are shouting loudly that you have the truth. “Leaching from broken panels damaged during natural events — hail storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. In relation to solar panels, the CdTe is safe while encapsulated in the module, but if the panel is damaged and exposed to … The type of solar panels that are by far the most common on homes are made of crystalline silicon (c-Si). NO, none of you have, without those carefully made and verified measurements giving evidence that your theory is correct, and can be useful in predicting with good accuracy what the weather and climate will do in the future it is not that worthy. Dr Dumbass as you aptly put it is just a propagandist for Greenpeace, the nontaxable burden on society.
cadmium leaching from solar panels 2021