Clean energy and carbon emissions

This was a summer where record high temperatures dominate the news, with fatalities occurring all over the globe. For example, Japan is experiencing the highest temperatures since meteorological records have been compiled. Premature deaths are being caused by heat waves that did not exist years ago. There is an urgent need for immediate installation of small and large-scale solar power systems. Everyone is familiar with rooftop solar and that's a great place to start. However, due to their location, larger utility-scale solar facilities can raise anxieties about land degradation and habitat loss. Total land area requirements change depending on the technology, the topography of the site, and the intensity of the solar resource. Estimates for utility-scale PV systems range from 3.5 to 10 acres per megawatt, while estimates for CSP facilities are between 4 and 16.5 acres per megawatt. Unlike wind facilities, there is less possibility for solar projects to share the land with agricultural practices. However, land impacts from utility-scale solar systems can be minimized by locating them at lower-quality locations such as brownfields, abandoned mining land, or existing transportation and transmission passages. Smaller scale solar PV arrays, which can be constructed on homes or commercial buildings, also have insignificant land use impact.

Water use and solar

Another appealing feature of solar is that solar panels do not use water for generating electricity. This is not something to be taken lightly in California and the desert Southwest. But, as in all manufacturing processes, some water is used to make solar PV components. Concentrating solar thermal plants (CSP), like all thermal electric plants, need water for cooling. Water use depends mostly on the plant design, plant location, and the kind of cooling system.

CSP plants that use wet-recirculating technology with cooling towers withdraw between 575 and 650 gallons of water per megawatt-hour of electricity produced. CSP plants with once-through cooling technology normally have elevated levels of water withdrawal, but lower total water consumption (because water is not lost as steam). Dry-cooling technology can often lessen water use at CSP plants by approximately 90 percent. However, the tradeoffs to these water savings are higher costs and lower efficiencies. Additionally, dry-cooling technology is significantly less productive at temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Some of the regions in the United States that have the highest potential for solar energy tend to be those with the driest climates, so careful deliberation of these water tradeoffs is a wise policy.

Hazardous materials

The PV cell manufacturing method includes a number of hazardous materials, some of which are used to clean and purify the semiconductor surface. The type of chemicals used depends on the type of cell, the volume of cleaning that is needed, and the size of the silicon wafer.  Workers also face risks connected with inhaling silicon dust. Therefore, PV manufacturers must follow U.S. laws to ensure that workers are not hurt by exposure to these chemicals and that manufacturing waste products are disposed of properly. Thin-film PV cells contain a number of more toxic materials than those used in traditional silicon photovoltaic cells, including gallium arsenide, copper-indium-gallium-diselenide, and cadmium-telluride. If not managed and disposed of properly, these materials could pose serious environmental or public health menaces. Fortunately, manufacturers have a strong financial incentive to ensure that these highly valuable and often rare materials are recycled rather than thrown away.

There has never been a better time than now to install a solar energy system! It makes sense financially and environmentally!

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