Are Solar Panels Hazardous Waste

Until the new regulations are adopted solar panels that exhibit characteristics of hazardous waste must be managed as hazardous wastes and not as universal wastes.

Are solar panels hazardous waste.

California however is in the process of implementing a new law that reclassifies solar panel waste as a subset of hazardous waste known as universal waste. At forbes michael shellenberger highlights another problem with solar energy. It produces vast quantities of hazardous waste which are not being adequately dealt with. Recently passed legislation authorizes dtsc to adopt regulations to designate used spent solar panels that are hazardous wastes as universal waste.

According to cancer biologist david h. Solar panels contain lead cadmium and other toxic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. Solar panels generate 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than nuclear power plants. If solar and nuclear produce the same amount of electricity over the next 25 years that nuclear produced in 2016 and the wastes are stacked on football fields the nuclear waste would reach the height of the leaning tower of pisa 53 meters while the solar waste would reach the height of two mt.

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. In the united states today discarded solar panels end up in landfills which means they fail the green requirement that a product be recyclable. Nguyen phd toxic chemicals in solar panels include cadmium telluride copper indium selenide cadmium gallium di selenide copper indium gallium di selenide hexafluoroethane lead and polyvinyl fluoride. While disposal of solar panels has taken place in regular landfills it is not recommended because the modules can break and toxic materials can leach into the soil causing problems with drinking water.

Worse rainwater can wash many of these toxics out of the fragments of solar modules over time. Silicon tetrachloride a byproduct of producing crystalline silicon is also highly toxic.