"Solar photovoltaic panels, whose operating life is 20 to 30 years, lose productivity over time. The International Renewable Energy Agency estimated that there were about 250,000 metric tons of solar panel waste in the world at the end of 2016 and that this figure would definitely increase. Solar panels contain lead, cadmium, and other toxic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. 3
In November 2016, Japan’s Environment Ministry issued a warning that the amount of solar panel waste Japan produces each year is likely to increase from 10,000 to 800,000 tons by 2040, and the country has no plan for safely disposing of it. 4 A recent report found that it would take 19 years for Toshiba Environmental Solutions to finish recycling all of the solar waste Japan produced by 2020. By 2034, the annual waste production will be 70 to 80 time larger than that of 2020. "
"More disconcerting, however, is the environmental impact of these chemicals. Based on installed capacity and power-related weight, we can estimate that by 2016, photovoltaics had spread about 11,000 tons of lead and about 800 tons of cadmium. A hazard summary of cadmium compounds produced by the EPA points out that exposure to cadmium can lead to serious lung irritation and long-lasting impairment of pulmonary functions. Exposure to lead hardly needs further explanation."
https://theconversation.com/theres-a-looming-waste-crisis-from-australias-solar-energy-boom-117421 says:
"Solar panels generally last about 20 years. And lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries, which will be the most common battery storage for solar, last between five and 15 years. Many solar panels have already been retired, but battery waste will start to emerge more significantly in 2025. By 2050 the projected amount of waste from retired solar panels in Australia is over 1,500 kilotonnes (kT)." and
"Given Australia is struggling to recycle simple waste, such as cardboard and plastics, in a cost-effective way, we need to question our capability to deal with more complex solar PV and battery waste.
Australia currently has little capacity to recycle both solar panelsand batteries."
https://quillette.com/2019/02/27/why-renewables-cant-save-the-planet/ says:
"Consider California. Between 2011–17 the cost of solar panels declined about 75 percent, and yet our electricity prices rose five times more than they did in the rest of the U.S. It’s the same story in Germany, the world leader in solar and wind energy. Its electricity prices increased 50 percent between 2006–17, as it scaled up renewables."
https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/2019/04/02/why-100-renewable-energy-goals-are-not-practical-policies/#gref says: "The issue is that our current technologies are intermittent, variable, and unpredictable as they depend on the weather and consequently have limited capacity factors. At the scale needed, storage is currently not a viable option as the technology is very expensive and still developing."
https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/renewable-energy-possible-good-environment/ says: "There's another problem with renewable energy that environmentalists and politicians tend to overlook when pushing their 100% renewable plans.
Australia currently has little capacity to recycle both solar panelsand batteries."
https://quillette.com/2019/02/27/why-renewables-cant-save-the-planet/ says:
"Consider California. Between 2011–17 the cost of solar panels declined about 75 percent, and yet our electricity prices rose five times more than they did in the rest of the U.S. It’s the same story in Germany, the world leader in solar and wind energy. Its electricity prices increased 50 percent between 2006–17, as it scaled up renewables."
https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/2019/04/02/why-100-renewable-energy-goals-are-not-practical-policies/#gref says: "The issue is that our current technologies are intermittent, variable, and unpredictable as they depend on the weather and consequently have limited capacity factors. At the scale needed, storage is currently not a viable option as the technology is very expensive and still developing."
https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/renewable-energy-possible-good-environment/ says: "There's another problem with renewable energy that environmentalists and politicians tend to overlook when pushing their 100% renewable plans.
Most forms of "clean" energy require massive amounts of land to produce relatively small amounts of energy."
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