Solar Energy May Not Be As Green As We Think

September 26, 2014- When you see solar panels, you might think they’re an icon for ‘going green.’ But while generating electricity through solar panels is better for the planet than burning fossil fuels, that’s not always the case. Several incidents have linked the manufacture of the shining “green” symbols to a trail of chemical pollution. It turns out that the time it takes to compensate for the energy used and the greenhouse gases emitted in panel production varies greatly by technology and geography.

The good news is that the industry could eliminate many damaging side effects that exist. Indeed, pressure for it to do so is mounting, partly because since 2008, manufacturing has moved from Europe, Japan, and the US to China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Today nearly half the world’s solar panels are manufactured in China. As a result, the countries that produce the most panels today typically do the worst job of protecting the environment and workers.

Most solar cells start as quartz, the most common form of silica (silicon dioxide), which is refined into elemental silicon. The first problem: The quartz is extracted from mines, putting miners at risk for the lung disease silicosis. The next step, which turns metallurgical-grade silicon into a purer form called polysilicon, creates the very toxic compound silicon tetrachloride. After that, there’s a string of potentially hazardous steps in the manufacturing process. The key is to closely monitor those steps.

Read the full Spectrum.ieee.org post, Solar Energy Isn’t Always as Green as You Think, here.

Carnow Conibear and Associates is a demonstrated leader in the occupational and environmental health professions since 1975. To find out more, click here or call us at (800) 860-4486.