Chinese Solar Panel Pollution

Solar panels generate 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than nuclear power plants.

Chinese solar panel pollution.

With recycling expensive. Environmental scientists and solar industry leaders are raising the red flag about used solar panels which contain toxic heavy metals and are considered hazardous waste. China s ageing solar panels are going to be a big environmental problem the issue of how to dispose of hazardous waste from ageing panels casts a shadow over the drive towards renewable energy. On some hazy days particularly in winter china s skies are blanketed by white and gray clouds of air pollutants.

They also contain lead cadmium and other toxic even carcinogenic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. In a study published last week in the journal nature the researchers. China s amount of pollution driven. Between 2008 and 2013 china s fledgling solar electric panel industry dropped world prices by 80 percent a stunning achievement in a fiercely competitive high tech market.

So it should come as no surprise that the 13th five year plan includes drastic policy measures calling for a reduction of emissions from coal burning industries while showing support for wind solar and bio power. But the view from solar panel factories is sometimes a little different. Despite greening industry pollution grows as energy production explodes. New research shows that such smog not only dims the daylight and makes the air hard to breathe but it reduces the amount of sunlight reaching china s solar panels.

Symbolic of an era of new energy the solar industry presents a bright and clean image to the world.