/biz/ - Business & Finance

>only 1 in 10 panels are actually recycled
>“The industry is supposed to be green,” Vanderhoof said. “But in reality, it’s all about the money.”
>The vast majority of residential solar arrays in the U.S. are crystalline silicon panels, which can contain lead, although it’s less prevalent in newer panels. Thin-film solar panels, which contain cadmium and selenium, are primarily used in utility-grade applications
>Only about $2 to $4 worth of materials are recovered from each panel. The majority of processing costs are tied to labor, and Orben said even recycling panels at scale would not be more economical.
>The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimated that it costs roughly $20 to $30 to recycle a panel versus $1 to $2 to send it to a landfill.
>https://web.archive.org/web/20220714141134/https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-07-14/california-rooftop-solar-pv-panels-recycling-danger

All that money California has spent to go green. I thought Solar was suppose to be the future but it sound like a environmental disaster waiting to happened.