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Is there a dark side to solar energy? According to recent reporting from Forbes, harvesting sunlight for energy could have significant consequences and contribute to environmental pollution.
Michael Shellenberger, an energy and environment contributor to Forbes, reported June 21 that solar panels produce 300 times more toxic waste than nuclear power plants.
Dan Kish, a distinguished senior fellow at the Institute for Energy Research at the University of Texas, told Houston Daily that the current growth patterns of toxic waste from solar panels is a matter of concern.
"Especially if there are no programs in place to incorporate the costs of recycling into the cost of solar," Kish said.
He explained that because there are plans to add sizable amounts of solar panels in Texas, the state's ratepayers should be aware that incorporating the costs of solar waste could quadruple electricity costs, according to the Harvard Business Review.
The Harvard article said that solar reliance in the energy grid could also quadruple over the next decade given the scope of the possible new solar incentives and regulations from the Biden administration.
The study echoed Kish's concern that electricity costs will skyrocket for consumers to shoulder the burden of solar waste. The Harvard Business Review estimates that by 2035 discarded panels "would outweigh new units sold by 2.56 times.”
The Harvard researchers said that if replacement of solar panels continues at the predicted rate, solar panels “can produce 50 times more waste in just four years than [International Renewable Energy Agency] IRENA anticipates.”
"The sheer volume of waste, and the lack of a recycling plan, means they are likely to present a significant problem for landfills, since it is much cheaper to dispose of them than to recycle them," Kish said.
According to the Forbes report, the fact that solar panels are shipped to sub-Saharan landfills, rather than being safely stored away from the public, is highly dangerous for communities in developing nations.
Are nuclear waste and solar waste comparable in terms of environmental concerns?
Kish said that nuclear waste – and the entire nuclear energy process – is highly regulated, while solar panels, the vast majority of which are produced in China, remain largely unregulated.
"Nuclear waste already has a nuclear waste program funded by consumers of energy, although politics has stopped the repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, from being developed," he said.
Forbes reported it costs 10 to 30 times more to recycle solar panels than to dump them in a landfill. Kish also said that, according to the National Renewable Energy Lab, a solar panel costs between $20 and $30 to be recycled but only $1 or $2 to send to a landfill.
This is problematic because the toxic substances from solar panels comprise excessively more toxic waste than what comes from laptops, iPhones and other smart devices combined. Adding to the concern is the lifespan of solar modules can fall below 20 years in high-temperature climates like Texas, according to Cfact.
Experts in the energy field are urging the pursuit of alternatives to solar before history repeats itself in Texas, where companies spent roughly $66 billion dollars on wind and solar power before the costly and dangerous February 2021 blackouts. Renewable energy companies in Texas were only able to spend this much because, according to Real Clear Energy, “the wind and solar sectors collected about $21.7 billion in local, state, and federal subsidies and incentives.”
Real Clear Energy reported that, through the support of taxpayer dollars, Texas wind and solar companies artificially received a 32.9% discount on their purchases compared to the rest of the market, meaning that taxpayers funded 33 cents of every dollar spent.
When asked about next steps for the alternative energy industry, Kish reminded the decision-makers of the Hippocratic oath: "Do no harm."
"Knowingly rushing into an energy source that is inherently intermittent, largely foreign-made and potentially liable to cost four times more than current estimates should not be done if Texans aren't to be spared rapidly escalating utility bills, growing waste problems and increasing dependence on foreign sources for our energy," Kish said. "Utilities and investors may like it, but Texans dependent on affordable and reliable energy will probably not."