The Other Side of Solar

My last post was very supportive of solar power and predominately outlined the positives of this technology, however there are can also be negative environmental impacts that can result from poor planning and immature production processes.

Earlier this month, an interesting study by Hu et al. (2015) was published in Nature Climate Change, discussing the regional impacts of solar panels on local climate. The study used models to show regional temperature changes caused by solar farms in both deserts and urban areas. Different scenarios were produced, one of which looked at the effects of a vast global distribution of solar panels. The results showed a local cooling in desert areas with warming in urban areas and an overall net warming of 0.09°C. Due to the outcome of this scenario, the authors made two key points:

1.  The impact of continued fossil fuel consumption would have a far greater detrimental impact on the environment than large scale solar farms

2.  Distribution of solar panels on this scale is highly unlikely therefore a more realistic scenario was modelled with a smaller distribution of solar farms; this resulted in a net cooling of 0.04°C

Desert Solar Farm, Mojave Desert, California
Source: ZME Science

Another study by Dubey et al. (2013) also outlines three potential negative environmental impacts of photovoltaic panels.

1. Toxic chemicals are used in the production of solar cells and accidents can lead to these pollutants entering and impacting local ecosystems

2. At present, fossil fuels predominately power solar panel production therefore the production process is not currently carbon neutral

3. Due to the relatively limited production of solar technology, waste is not currently recycled as it is not yet economically viable

However, all of these issues can be addressed in time; the carbon footprint and lack of recycling can both be improved by greater deployment of this renewable technology and toxic chemical accidents can be reduced through improved regulations.

Renewable technology is usually seen as an answer to all of our environmental problems; however, as we have seen here from solar panels, there are also negative effects. As a result, continued research is imperative so that issues are highlighted, understood and addressed prior to mass deployment. My last post mentioned the rapid 'solar revolution' that is expected to take place, but in light of the studies outlined in this post, I feel that a more balanced approach is required. By ensuring that a wide variety of renewable technologies are rolled out, it will reduce dependency on one resource, meaning that if there are any unforeseen issues once large scale deployment takes place, they can be properly addressed with reduced impact on both energy demand and the environment.