Re:Old car batteries could make cheaper, more efficient sola...
by tim333 on Tuesday August 19, 2014 @06:19AM
(#8196642)
>Instead of adding more lead to the environment
Of course the number of lead atoms on earth is pretty much constant and they are out there in the environment somewhere. The idea is to have them somewhere harmless rather in us. Leaded fuel was a bit of a disaster from that point of view hence the decline in the graph as leaded fuel was banned. (Still available in Algeria, Iraq, Yemen, Myanmar, North Korea according to Wikipedia). I think the solar panels could be done without net lead ending up in people if handled properly. Incidentally there's a probably a fair bit of lead a few mm from you in the solder of your electronic gadget but it doesn't do any harm there as it's had to get it from solder in to people. Hopefully the panels would have similar stability and not be like lead based paints which are a problem.
There are some similar question marks with cadmium based solar panels of which First Solar have installed 8GW worth. I think I might worry slightly about those too, probably more that lead. Indeed I think First Solar have only done industrial installations for power companies rather than domestic so the recycling can be done properly.
Of course the number of lead atoms on earth is pretty much constant and they are out there in the environment somewhere. The idea is to have them somewhere harmless rather in us. Leaded fuel was a bit of a disaster from that point of view hence the decline in the graph as leaded fuel was banned. (Still available in Algeria, Iraq, Yemen, Myanmar, North Korea according to Wikipedia). I think the solar panels could be done without net lead ending up in people if handled properly. Incidentally there's a probably a fair bit of lead a few mm from you in the solder of your electronic gadget but it doesn't do any harm there as it's had to get it from solder in to people. Hopefully the panels would have similar stability and not be like lead based paints which are a problem.
There are some similar question marks with cadmium based solar panels of which First Solar have installed 8GW worth. I think I might worry slightly about those too, probably more that lead. Indeed I think First Solar have only done industrial installations for power companies rather than domestic so the recycling can be done properly.