Toxic Metals In Solar Panels

Do solar panels contain toxic chemicals.

Toxic metals in solar panels.

Solar panels often contain lead cadmium and other toxic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. Although thin film photovoltaics do contain some heavy metals including cadmium numerous studies e g. However if you re installing thin film technology there are additional toxic materials contained in the thin film panels itself such as cadmium telluride and copper indium selenide. The large majority of panels used in installations are safe silicon based panels.

Approximately 90 of most pv modules are made up of glass. Additionally silicon tetrachloride a byproduct of producing crystalline silicon is highly toxic. The most commonly utilized solar technologies use inert materials found at every building site including silicon glass aluminum frame and copper wiring. The sustainability of photovoltaics and life cycle impact analysis of cadmium in cdte pv production have found that these metals do not leach from the modules into the environment under.

Experts have found that the rare metals required to build solar panels such as indium and tellurium are not in sufficient supply to keep up with demand. When these panels enter landfills valuable resources go to waste. Even though the common type of solar panel is non toxic there is a type of solar cell that can contain toxic materials. However recent research coming out of the netherlands has spotted a red flag to relying on solar panels as a panacea for global emissions problems.

Thin film cells in contrast are made by depositing chemical layers on a substrate such as glass or plastic. Conventional solar cells are made by cutting wafers from a block of silicon.