• Feed_el_Castro [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    1 day ago

    Solar panels require mining and non-renewable materials to make

    All human activity has an impact, replacing fossil fuels by solar is extremely positive

    and are economically non-recyclable

    Their lifespan is 30+ years easily. Recycling may very well become economically feasible once we start generating millions of tons of solar panel residue, large scale operation is a huge aspect of profitability

    • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.auBanned from community
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      14 hours ago

      Recycling may very well become economically feasible once we start generating millions of tons of solar panel residue, large scale operation is a huge aspect of profitability

      Scale is irrelevant. The cost to break down and recover materials from a solar panel and then recycle it to be able to make it into a new panel is higher than it costs to just buy a new panel, and this is never going to change - especially as the price of cheap chinese-made solar panels keeps decreasing.

      • Feed_el_Castro [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        10 hours ago

        Scale is irrelevant

        Famously, economy of scale isn’t a thing /s

        cheap chinese-made solar panels

        That would be all solar panels. China manufactures 95% of the solar photovoltaic power in the planet, you can thank socialism for providing an alternative to fossil fuels