How Green Are Solar Panels Really

January 31 2019 by cathy chen.

How green are solar panels really.

Ai can revolutionise their design. It would be great if all solar panel production facilities were powered by well solar power but this isn t always the case. The svtc said it s leading an effort to develop a first ever sustainability standard for solar panels similar to the u s. Solar energy is green.

As the world seeks cleaner power solar energy capacity has increased sixfold in the past five years. Solar photovoltaic generating electricity from sunlight has been growing the fastest driven by technological advances that bring prices down as much as by government policies such as feed in tariffs 1 world reached 25 renewable energy capacity sis 49. Solar power captures the sun s energy by using photovoltaic cells and transparent photovoltaic glass to generate electricity. Solar power tops the list of renewable energies in the world both in installed capacity and rate of growth.

The manufacturing process itself isn t very green either. The source of the energy for these manufacturing plants can make a big difference in just how green solar energy really is. For example many of the manufacturing plants in china still rely heavily on fossil fuels for energy. As the industry grows so does concern over the environmental impact.

Enthusiasts for solar energy which is the use of sunlight to heat water and generate electricity stress its environmental credentials and suggest the widespread adoption of solar is an answer to some of humanity s greatest environmental challenges like climate change. The manufacturing side of solar can be very un green since its energy intensive processes are often powered by fossil fuel based electricity. How green are those solar panels really. They are also made using rare earth elements the supply of which has both capacity and political issues.

But that does not mean you can automatically stamp a thin film solar cell as green. Solar panels are not. Even though solar power is a lot greener than fossil fuels it still has a carbon footprint 9 180 grams co2 per kilowatt hour although this is much lower than fossil fuel. Solar panels require a lot of manufacturing.

Solar panels require chemicals such as sodium hydroxide and. Green building council s leadership in energy and environmental design or. Yet manufacturing all those solar panels a tuesday report shows can have environmental downsides.