Wednesday, 02 May 2018
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The production of solar panels requires a lot of heat. Silicon has a melting point of 1,414 degrees Celsius, which is close to that of iron (at 1,538 degrees). According to the Economist, most silicon is melted in electric furnaces that primarily run on fossil fuels. Thus, solar panels produced using fossil fuels begin their life with a carbon debt from a greenhouse-gas-saving point of view.
In an article published in Nature Communications, Wilfried van Stark et al. calculate the energy required to produce solar panels installed around the world between 1975 and 2015. The associated carbon dioxide emissions and the amount of saved carbon-dioxide from utilizing these panels are also considered.
The amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the manufacturing of the panels varies depending on the location of production. A panel ma...