Clean energy sources and carbon emissions

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. This means there is an urgent need for small and large-scale solar power systems. Due to their location, larger utility-scale solar facilities can raise concerns about land degradation and habitat loss. Total land area requirements vary 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 opportunity for solar projects to share the land with agricultural uses. However, land impacts from utility-scale solar systems can be minimized by siting them at lower-quality locations such as brownfields, abandoned mining land, or existing transportation and transmission corridors. Smaller scale solar arrays, which can be built on homes or commercial buildings, also have minimal land use impact.

Water Use and solar

Solar panels do not use water for generating electricity. However, as in all manufacturing processes, some water is used to manufacture solar PV components. Concentrating solar thermal plants (CSP), like all thermal electric plants, require water for cooling. Water use depends mostly on the plant design, plant location, and the type 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 usually have higher levels of water withdrawal, but lower total water consumption (because water is not lost as steam). Dry-cooling technology reduces 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 effective at temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Some of the regions in the United States that have the highest potential for solar energy can also tend to be those with the driest climates, so careful consideration of these water tradeoffs is a wise policy.

Hazardous Materials

The solar cell manufacturing process includes a number of hazardous materials, most of which are used to clean and purify the semiconductor surface. The type of chemicals used depends on the type of cell, the amount of cleaning that is needed, and the size of a silicon wafer.  Workers also face risks associated with inhaling silicon dust. Therefore, PV manufacturers must follow U.S. laws to ensure that workers are not harmed 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 handled and disposed of properly, these materials could pose serious environmental or public health threats. 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!

If you want to move into the future and join the solar revolution, or if you want to find out what solar panels are right for you, go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. You can see how much a system will cost, and how much you can save over the next 
20 years. 

For more information relating to going solar, don't forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles