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Comment by erentz | Hacker News Reader

And no one ever talks about how we’ll handle solar waste. Has it changed and is no longer a problem going forward? Last I looked into it a few years back it was shaping up to be a very serious and toxic problem. They were very difficult to recycle, and full of lead, cadmium, and other nasty things. Something needs to be done with them but everyone was pretending they’re completely clean and safe.

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My introduction to this was when I went to work for a solar manufacturer and had to take blood tests to measure cadmium levels.

I mention this all the time to coworkers who blindly believe solar is a perfect technology. It is really, really bad - especially the old stuff with all these REE's and extremely low efficiency. I am pretty upset that California now REQUIRES solar for new construction. It really feels we should have waited for the efficiency/cleanliness/recycling to mature a lot before that.

solar panels actively reduce CO2 emissions every day they are in use. They only pollute if they are dumped irresponsibly after their ~15 year service life. why would it be good to forego something that reduces emissions now, in order to develop recycling for something that won't be discarded until 15 years?

I get 27.300 results for "solar waste" on google. 88.000.000 for "solar waste management". Literally "no one ever"...

I don't think the implication was that there is no data out there. I think it's more about the popular conversation. I have this same problem all the time when I discuss this topic with people. It's very common for people to respond quickly about nuclear with "but what about the waste". To which I typically respond "what about the solar waste". The problem is, the question is generally only applied to one side while the other side gets a pass.

We both know what was intended by that. Dramatization in an already emotion filled discussion.

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