Are solar panels really green?
Are solar panels really worth their eco-footprint? The debate on small-scale renewable energy devices continues to go back and forth as we, the consumers, try do determine whether we're doing harm or good by investing in these nascent technologies. While a professor at UC Berkeley says that solar panels -- in their current form -- are really nothing but a financial sinkhole, Vasilis M. Fthenakis of Brookhaven National Laboratory gives solar manufacturing two green thumbs up. The environmental impact of producing the 3 main types of photovoltaic cells is relatively small -- the greenest being the thin-film cadmium telluride cells. These findings are based on a PV cell's lifecycle analysis, not on their viability as a mass energy source. Per GWh, solar panels produce far less emissions than a typical power source like coal. In other words, if all of our power magically came from solar panels, it would reduce our nation's energy emissions by 89%.
That said, a solar setup costs around $90,000 to install and produces a whopping $19,000 - $51,000 worth of electricity over its lifetime. That's not exactly the kind of equation that makes me want to run to the bank and get a loan.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-28-2008 @ 9:02AM
Mike said...
Where did you get those nubmers from, i.e. $90K and all. I did not see that in the referenced document. How did you dicide how much electricity should cost in 20 yrs and what did you use to factor in cleaner air/water, jobs created, etc., etc.
Again, I would hope with a name like greendaily you would try to put a positive spin on these articles and not try to discredit green tech with eronious numbers.
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2-28-2008 @ 9:40AM
Josh Loposer said...
I added a link to the numbers. They come from the UC Berkeley professor's report, mentioned in the 1st paragraph.
2-28-2008 @ 12:21PM
Mike said...
From the referenced paper
"I do not attempt to quantify the non-market security and environmental externalities
associated with solar PV." The playing field continues to be unfair.
Also, it should be noted that this refers to grid tied solar competing with conventional power. Grid interactive systems with battery backup, which are typically more expensive, could provide more value to the owner and from a reduction in infrastructure costs.
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