Solar Energy Articles

How to Make Solar Panels Greener?

Solar panels are the most sustainable way of harnessing green energy on to our planet. There is enough and plentiful sunlight available on earth to make more or less efficient use of the available power.

In this article, we are going to see how to make solar panels greener than the existing ones.

Some of the companies that are involved in the solar panel business are striving hard to make it even greener. Some companies are making an effort to recycle the solar panels after the end of their lifespan in a matter of 25-30 years. Some of the companies are also committed that they would take an extra precautions that they would not send the solar panels manufactured by them to the developing countries of the world where there is already a much debated issue of a lot of electronics debris going non-recycled and escaping the clutches of safe disposal.

Some companies are also trying to consume lesser amount of power when they make the solar panels via their manufacturing processes and fabrication of crystalline silicon. They want to maximize their bottom line and also cause lesser damage to the environment in such processes thereby. Researches in the academics as well as the various industry associations are coming up with the much appreciated ideas to replace the unwanted and polluting chemicals that are used in the manufacturing process.

The crystalline silicon on an average must be available for usage in the form of silicon panels for two years’ time from their manufacturing process so that they give back the same amount of energy consumed as and when it was required for their production. This is the payback time for the solar panels which they owe to the energy consumption that had been made when high temperatures were required to heat silicon crystals.

There is a company dedicated to the solar panel manufacturing in Berlin. This company has dedicated itself to the reduction of the chemicals that are used in the manufacturing process of solar panels. This is expected to be lesser and lesser to an extent of 3-5% in each year. These companies include Solon, Solar World, Mitsubishi Electric, etc. which are trying to eliminate lead in their manufacturing process to a complete extent. In Europe alone, the companies are not permitted to make use of the lead when they make the heavy machinery. Government regulation like these and the commitment offered by the industry bodies all over the world are very much helpful in order to make solar panels greener by the day.

There are the alternate ways of manufacturing of the solar panels, particularly thin film modules, which cannot be manufactured using silicon crystals. These make use of a material called as Cadmium Telluride (CdTe). The advantage in using CdTe is that they reach their payback time when they are used up to a year or so as compared to two years of silicon made solar panels.

In addition to this, there are many other processes that govern the making of greener solar panels all around the world. Solar World, a company of solar panel manufacturing is dedicated in initiating something called as a photovoltaic cycle. This is a recycling association which comprises the 80 odd companies. The electronic waste will be generated mainly from the silicon in its crystalline form. Hence solutions are being constantly investigated and also developed when it comes to curbing the effects of electronic wastage from industrial perspective.

As these companies, government and other organizations are striving hard for a noble cause of reducing waste of materials and implementation of manufacturing processes of solar panels using lesser amount of chemicals, the solar panels are produced to be greener day by day. This is a blessing to our very own environment.

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