Here is an article from Fox News about LA Times report on solar panels:
LA Times report warns about 'environmental danger' in solar transition
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The Times' Rachel Kisela reported that many solar panels that were purchased beginning in 2006, when the California government "showered subsidies on homeowners" to inspire a transition away from fossil fuels, are now reaching the end of their lifespan."Beginning in 2006, the state, focused on how to incentivize people to take up solar power, showered subsidies on homeowners who installed photovoltaic panels but had no comprehensive plan to dispose of them. Now, panels purchased under those programs are nearing the end of their 25-year lifecycle," Kisela reported.
The problem is, when solar panels end up in landfills, "components that contain toxic heavy metals such as selenium and cadmium can contaminate groundwater."
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Toxic waste from solar panels is not just a Californian problem, but a problem nationwide. "About 140,000 panels are installed every day in the United States, and the solar industry is expected to quadruple in size between 2020 and 2030," Kisela said.But there are difficulties surrounding disposal of solar panels: "Recycling solar panels isn’t a simple process. Highly specialized equipment and workers are needed to separate the aluminum frame and junction box from the panel without shattering it into glass shards."
"Specialized furnaces are used to heat panels to recover silicon. In most states, panels are classified as hazardous materials, which require expensive restrictions on packaging, transport and storage," she continued.
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Solar panel contains toxic heavy metals and its lifecycle is only 25 years. If 140,000 panels are installed daily in the US, it's more than 50 million panels per year.
And we need specialized furnaces to recycle those panels? What kind of energy are we going to use for those furnaces? I'm sure it's neither wind nor solar. We'll have to use oil or gas to fire up those furnaces.
If recycling is not economically feasible, majority of those toxic panels will eventually end up in landfills without proper recycling.
Solar panel waste could become a massive environmental catastrophe. I can't see why this is better than nuclear energy.