{"id":2027,"date":"2012-10-30T10:16:44","date_gmt":"2012-10-30T00:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=2027"},"modified":"2012-10-30T10:16:45","modified_gmt":"2012-10-30T00:46:45","slug":"are-your-green-solar-panels-killing-chinese-villagers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/are-your-green-solar-panels-killing-chinese-villagers\/","title":{"rendered":"Are your “Green” Solar Panels killing Chinese villagers?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"toxic<\/a>

Solar Panel production produces large quantities of toxic waste. Where does that waste go?<\/p><\/div>\n

If you are looking to invest in solar panels for environmental reasons, you\u2019ll be pleased to know that, the solar electricity you will get from those panels will be 40 to 50 times less carbon intensive than electricity generated from coal.<\/p>\n

But before you buy those solar panels and start basking in their green glow, you should be aware that the environmental impact of those panels might not be all good news.<\/p>\n

Manufacturing solar panels is a pretty toxic business.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To make the most common crystalline-based solar panels the process goes something like this:<\/p>\n

First silica has to be mined \u2013 usually in open cast pits.<\/p>\n

Once the silica has been dug up it has to be refined, using one of the nastiest chemicals out there: hydrochloric acid, before it is cut into beermat sized wafers.<\/p>\n

The wafers are then treated with another cocktail of industrial acids and heavy metals to turn them into the solar cells, that are soldered together (usually with a lead-based solder) to make up the familiar black\/blue grid that you see behind the glass of a solar panel.<\/p>\n

When operating these kinds of toxic manufacturing processes, how the factories handle worker protection, waste management and chemical storage is vitally important if they aren\u2019t going to kill or maim both their workers and the local environment. Doing the right and safe thing tends to be very expensive.<\/p>\n

It is clear that not all solar panel factories are making the investment needed to stay safe. In August 2011, there was an incident at a Solar panel factory in China which killed large numbers of fish in a nearby river and led to a 3 day protest by local villagers accusing the factory of dumping its toxic waste in their local environment. That solar company has since pledged to clean up its act \u2013 but the lack of firm regulations on pollution in places like China make it inevitable that many other factories we don\u2019t know about are way below the standards we would accept in Australia.<\/p>\n

Thankfully for green minded solar fans, there are a number of solar panel companies that do take their environmental obligations very seriously. But how do you find out who they are?<\/p>\n

How to find an environmentally responsible solar manufacturer<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s where the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition<\/a> (SVTC) may be able to help. Every year this US based not-for-profit group survey the major solar panel manufacturers on many aspects of their environmental responsibility including \u2028worker rights, health, and safety\u2028 and chemical use. They compile the survey results into a solar scorecard<\/a>. Encouragingly, for 2012, most of the surveyed companies responded. The ones that didn\u2019t could only get scored based on the information on their corporate websites (and generally get much lower scores as a result!).<\/p>\n

Here are the scores for the 2012 survey (higher is better):<\/p>\n

Solar Panel Manufactuer \u00a0|\u00a0 Score<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Trina<\/td>\n94<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SunPower<\/td>\n93<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SolarWorld<\/td>\n91<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yingli<\/td>\n88<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
REC<\/td>\n87<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Suntech<\/td>\n86<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Avancis<\/td>\n79<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sovello<\/td>\n79<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Aleo Solar<\/td>\n77<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Solon Energy GmbH<\/td>\n75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
First Solar<\/td>\n74<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Scheuten Solar<\/td>\n66<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SoloPower<\/td>\n61<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Motech<\/td>\n56<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Panasonic*<\/em><\/td>\n28<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ReneSola*<\/em><\/td>\n11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sharp*<\/em><\/td>\n9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Canadian Solar*<\/em><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
HanWha Solar One*<\/em><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Schott*<\/em><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jinko*<\/em><\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LDK*<\/em><\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

*Didn\u2019t respond to SVTC\u2019s survey<\/p>\n

So if you are looking to buy solar panels and the environmental impact of those panels is important to you, then use these scores as your guide to maximize the chance that your solar panels really are environmentally friendly.<\/p>\n

\"toxic<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally \u2013 it\u2019s interesting to see that all the top performers in the list above sell panels at a \u2018reasonable\u2019 price (i.e. not insanely cheap) and some of the ones at the bottom sell incredibly cheap panels. Like I said earlier \u2013 environmental protection for solar panel factories is not cheap \u2013 so please bear that in mind next time you are offered a phenomenally cheap solar system. By not paying a fair price for your solar panels, it may be poor Chinese villagers that are paying the price for your cheap panels through polluted rivers, dead fish and increased cancer rates through exposure to toxic industrial chemicals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are looking to invest in solar panels for environmental reasons, you\u2019ll be pleased to know that, the solar electricity you will get from those panels will be 40 to 50 times less carbon intensive than electricity generated from coal. But before you buy those solar panels and start basking in their green glow, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[182],"class_list":["post-2027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-solar-panels-2","tag-china","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAre your "Green" Solar Panels killing Chinese villagers? - SolarQuotes Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are those super cheap solar panels you've seen on offer made in a factory that spews toxic waste into the local environment?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/are-your-green-solar-panels-killing-chinese-villagers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are your "Green" Solar Panels killing Chinese villagers?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Are those super cheap solar panels you've seen on offer made in a factory that spews toxic waste into the local environment?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/are-your-green-solar-panels-killing-chinese-villagers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-30T00:46:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-10-30T00:46:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/toxic-waste.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Finn Peacock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@FinnPeacock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/are-your-green-solar-panels-killing-chinese-villagers\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/are-your-green-solar-panels-killing-chinese-villagers\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Finn Peacock\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/495c35fb3086e6ef93220dcf2472b178\"},\"headline\":\"Are your “Green” Solar Panels killing Chinese villagers?\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-30T00:46:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-30T00:46:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/are-your-green-solar-panels-killing-chinese-villagers\/\"},\"wordCount\":688,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/are-your-green-solar-panels-killing-chinese-villagers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/toxic-waste.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"china\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Solar Panels\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/are-your-green-solar-panels-killing-chinese-villagers\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/are-your-green-solar-panels-killing-chinese-villagers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/are-your-green-solar-panels-killing-chinese-villagers\/\",\"name\":\"Are your \\\"Green\\\" Solar Panels killing Chinese villagers? 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I started SolarQuotes in 2009 and the SolarQuotes blog in 2013 with the belief that it\u2019s more important to be truthful and objective than popular. My last \"real job\" was working for the CSIRO in their renewable energy division. Since 2009, I\u2019ve helped over 800,000 Aussies get quotes for solar from installers I trust. Read my full bio.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/","https:\/\/x.com\/FinnPeacock"],"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2FF2s-wH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9012,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/what-everybody-ought-to-know-about-solar-panels-and-the-environment\/","url_meta":{"origin":2027,"position":0},"title":"What Everybody Ought to Know About Solar Panels And The Environment","author":"Ronald Brakels","date":"January 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I think fossil fuels are great. In their place. And that place is underground and undisturbed by human activity. The reasons why are kind of obvious: \u00a0 \u00a0 And here is an effect that is less immediately obvious, but which might end up killing a lot more people: \u00a0 That\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar and the Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Solar and the Environment","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-and-the-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"very strong smog in Nizhny Novgorod","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bigstock-very-strong-smog-in-Nizhny-Nov-79375537.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bigstock-very-strong-smog-in-Nizhny-Nov-79375537.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bigstock-very-strong-smog-in-Nizhny-Nov-79375537.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/bigstock-very-strong-smog-in-Nizhny-Nov-79375537.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3999,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-power-old-car-batteries-revs-recycling-clean-energy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2027,"position":1},"title":"MIT discovers how to make cheap solar panels from old car batteries","author":"Staff Writer","date":"September 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Cheap solar panels made\u00a0from old car batteries? Yup! That is the latest clean energy recycling breakthrough from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). And the verdict at SQHQ is \"GENIUS!\". A co-authored paper published in respected journal Energy and Environmental Science describes diverting toxic waste lead material from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Panels"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Panels","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-panels-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"What do we do with gazillions of old, toxic car batteries? Simple. Turn them into cheap solar panels!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/battery-to-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/battery-to-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/battery-to-solar.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12873,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-panel-recycling-mb0107\/","url_meta":{"origin":2027,"position":2},"title":"A Solar Waste Crisis On The Horizon?","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"July 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A pro-nuclear group has warned of a potential solar waste crisis - so what is happening with regard to solar panel recycling? The group, Environmental Progress, says solar panels create 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than nuclear power plants and also claims solar requires around seven\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar panel recycling","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/solar-panel-recycling.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/solar-panel-recycling.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/solar-panel-recycling.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/solar-panel-recycling.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33866,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/recycling-solar-panel-waste\/","url_meta":{"origin":2027,"position":3},"title":"Tossing Old Solar Panels Into Landfill Is Greener Than Recycling Them","author":"Ronald Brakels","date":"December 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Recycling is a good thing.\u00a0 Most of the time.\u00a0 Humans have been reusing material for thousands of years, probably beginning on a large scale when early agriculturalists noticed poo is good for plants.\u00a0 Ancient Greeks didn't let pieces of broken pottery go to waste and used them like notepaper, while\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar and the Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Solar and the Environment","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-and-the-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Recycling solar panels","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/no-recycling.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/no-recycling.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/no-recycling.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/no-recycling.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/no-recycling.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15165,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/usq-solar-power-project-mb0215\/","url_meta":{"origin":2027,"position":4},"title":"University of Southern Queensland To Save Millions With Solar Power","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"September 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Stage two of University of Southern Queensland's Sustainable Energy Solution project is well under way, with solar panels being installed on rooftops at USQ's Springfield and Ipswich campuses. The second stage is expected to be completed before the end of this year. The completed Sustainable Energy Solution project will save\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Univerisity of Southern Queensland solar energy installation","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/usq-solar-panels.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/usq-solar-panels.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/usq-solar-panels.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/usq-solar-panels.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34317,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/vodcast-episode-33-mb1260\/","url_meta":{"origin":2027,"position":5},"title":"SolarQuotes Vodcast Episode 33 – Dynamic Solar Stuff","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"October 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/eMwn40oOvcg In episode 33, Finn and Ronald discuss dynamic solar energy export limits, 25-year solar panel product warranties, 7 ways to get rid of unwanted solar panels and more. Dynamic Solar Export Limits 1:20 - High grid voltages are becoming quite a challenge, a situation resulting from a large number\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SolarQuotes Vodcast Episode 33","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vodcast-episode-33.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vodcast-episode-33.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vodcast-episode-33.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vodcast-episode-33.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vodcast-episode-33.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2027"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2053,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027\/revisions\/2053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}