Solar panels take a lot of energy to create but the total emissions are heavily front loaded.
Externalities solar panels.
Total land area requirements varies depending on the technology the topography of the site and the intensity.
After solar panels are installed they produce emission free energy for 25 years.
Externalities on the roof.
The manufacturing process is irrelevant without context of the lifetime generated energy as well as how other fuel sources stack up.
In the uk this has been patchy due to changing government policies and major expenditure is now required to deal with legacy wastes arising from early nuclear power generation effectively an external cost albeit an historical one.
The sun provides a tremendous resource for generating clean and sustainable electricity without toxic pollution or global warming emissions.
What to do with millions of square feet of worn out solar panels.
The potential environmental impacts associated with solar power land use and habitat loss water use and the use of hazardous materials in manufacturing can vary greatly depending on the technology which includes two broad categories.