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Environment impacts vs. gains of solar power

Impacts caused can be divided into two categories:

1.) Impacts from production of the components of a solar power system.
2.) Impacts from the daily operation of the PV systems.

Environmental impacts due to manufacturing of solar power systems

Silicon, the most common solar cell material, is a product of the chemical industry. Purification involves many process steps that are, however, tightly controlled and subject to strict regulations. The process is operated as much as possible in a closed loop with recycling of reagents. Solar cell manufacturing requires diffusion, oxidation, and contacting steps for which different chemicals are employed. They are either recycled or disposed of in a very controlled manner. Thin-film solar modules involve different manufacturing processes, which sometimes employ noxious gases. All these steps are tightly controlled and no accidents have ever occurred in solar power manufacturing. All solar cells or modules that are damaged during production are recycled back into the process. The inverter is no different from other electronic equipment and is manufactured under the same standards of environmental protection. Therefore, it can be stated that there are no environmental impacts from the production of solar power systems.

Environmental impacts from operation of solar power systems

Normally solar power systems do not have any effect on the environment from their operation. They do not emit noise, solid waste, or gases that could harm the environment... In this way, solar power systems and the electricity they generate make an important contribution to the protection of the environment.

Recycling of solar power systems

A power grid-connected solar power system consists of the following components:
- solar module
- inverter
- installation material (e.g., mounting racks, cables, etc.).
For most standalone systems often an inverter is not even necessary, but in most cases they need a charge controller and batteries. The electronic and electric components of a solar power system such as the inverter, batteries, charge controller and cables can be recycled by existing and proven methods. Special technologies are needed for the recycling of the solar modules regardless of whether the solar modules are made from crystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, or other thin-film material. The increasing use of solar power systems makes it necessary not only to develop methods for energy and material efficient production of solar modules, but also to create efficient methods of recycling of solar modules The recycling of solar power systems has been investigated only recently for both practically and theoretically because of the long lifetime of modules, there was simply nothing to recycle before. Already most manufacturers give the guarantee today that all materials that are used for the production of the solar power systems can be recycled.