Around the globe, millions upon millions of solar panels have reached their use by dates; they can’t be recycled, which means they’re destined for the local dump.
Each panel is a veritable toxic cocktail of gallium arsenide, tellurium, silver, crystalline silicon, lead, cadmium and other heavy metals. As the stuff leeches into the water table, it’s not difficult to imagine the effect on water supplies, the environment and human health.
And it’s not just filling up landfill with toxic sludge – in the mother of all ironies – while they’re above ground, solar panels are sending the mercury northward, adding 3-4°C to the average temperature of the environment in which they are situated.
Well, it all seemed like such a good idea, at the time.
Duggan Flanakin deals with that and a number of other matters which tend to take the shine off solar power.
Solar panels generate mountains of…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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