2 Reasons Why You Might Need To Replace Solar Panels Prematurely
Coal power is one of the biggest contributors to global warming. While it generates a steady supply of electricity essential for everyday tasks, it generates too much greenhouse gases to the point it increases the heat our planet generates.
Environmentalists defeat global warming by reducing our dependence on coal power. Many governments have picked up this initiative by using solar power. Entire neighborhoods in the West have also done their part to combat global warming.
While we may have reduced coal power dependence, it has also increased the amount of solar panel waste the country generates. Sometimes, homeowners remove solar panels prematurely because of the following reasons.
Technical Issues
Solar panel manufacturers always do their best in manufacturing solar panels with consistent performance, specifications, and capabilities. Unfortunately, some of them may turn out problematic and require replacements once found defective. This will force homeowners to remove the panels from their roofs.
Wrong Installations
Solar panel manufacturers only trust reliable solar panel installation teams. For example, GAF only trusts their well-trained Master Elite roofers to install their Timberline Solar Shingles. This new product line combines solar panel and existing GAF roofing techologies to achieve outstanding installation and solar efficiency. This means that your roof has a high chance of failing or has a shortened lifespan if you use non-certified roofers.
With this in mind, solar panel-using homeowners should consider only working with highly-qualified technicians to install the products and avoid increased solar panel waste. This is becoming a major problem worldwide. Learn more about it from Forbes' post below.
The last few years have seen growing concern over what happens to solar panels at the end of their life. Consider the following statements:
The problem of solar panel disposal “will explode with full force in two or three decades and wreck the environment” because it “is a huge amount of waste and they are not easy to recycle.”
“The reality is that there is a problem now, and it’s only going to get larger, expanding as rapidly as the PV industry expanded 10 years ago.”
“Contrary to previous assumptions, pollutants such as lead or carcinogenic cadmium can be almost completely washed out of the fragments of solar modules over a period of several months, for example by rainwater.”
Were these statements made by the right-wing Heritage Foundation? Koch-funded global warming deniers? The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal?
None of the above. Rather, the quotes come from a senior Chinese solar official, a 40-year veteran of the U.S. solar industry, and research scientists with the German Stuttgart Institute for Photovoltaics.
With few environmental journalists willing to report on much of anything other than the good news about renewables, it’s been left to environmental scientists and solar industry leaders to raise the alarm.
“I’ve been working in solar since 1976 and that’s part of my guilt,” the veteran solar developer told Solar Power World last year. “I’ve been involved with millions of solar panels going into the field, and now they’re getting old.”
The Trouble With Solar Waste
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in 2016 estimated there was about 250,000 metric tonnes of solar panel waste in the world at the end of that year. IRENA projected that this amount could reach 78 million metric tonnes by 2050. (Continued)
Always trust a reliable Master Elite roofer certified to install GAF Timberline Solar Shingles and LG Solar Panels. Let Roper Roofing & Solar work on your solar panel installations in the best way. Contact us today to get started.
