Co2 Emissions To Produce A Solar Panel

To create a solar panel caustic materials will emit greenhouse gases.

Co2 emissions to produce a solar panel.

Solar panels payback the energy in 1. Even at this top end however solar s footprint is very low compared to other sources. Most estimates of life cycle emissions for photovoltaic systems are between 0 07 and 0 18 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt hour. The panel is rated to produce 224 watts of power in 1 hour of peak solar intensity.

Most estimates for concentrating solar power range from 0 08 to 0 2 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt hour. For instance concentrated solar power csp has a footprint of 20 grams of carbon dioxide co2 per kilowatt hour kwh of electricity produced in addition to consuming vast amounts. Here s another way to look at it even using lca life cycle assessment wikipedia. A 6 6kw solar system will produce around 10 600 kwh a year which will save around 10 6 tonnes of co2 emissions per year.

The team found that for every doubling of the world s solar capacity the energy required to make a panel fell by around 12 and associated carbon dioxide emissions by 17 24. Solar panels glimmering in the sun are an icon of. Contrary to the claims of some critics today s research shows that the hidden emissions due to building wind turbines solar panels or nuclear plants are very low in comparison with the savings from avoiding fossil fuels. Taking into account the two years to pay off the embedded energy in the panel after 25 years a 6 6kw system will have a net saving of around 243 tonnes of co2.

So if you live in santa fe new mexico you would generate 6 x 224 watts 1 33 kwh in one day with that one panel. The levels of the resulting emissions mostly carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide can t do much harm to the people working at silicon. By scott cramer although the use of solar panels is green many solar panel manufacturing processes are not.