Solar panels with the power capacity of a gigawatt (750K homes) need about 18.5 tons of silver, 3,380 tons of polysilicon and 10,252 tons of aluminum. It takes 3.125 million solar panels needed based on panel size of 320 watts. How much mining is required? #GreenEnergy 🧵
To make 1 ton of polysilicon, (MG-Si Kato, et. al) it takes 2.4 tons of quartz, 550 kg of coal, 600 kg charcoal and 300 kg of woodchips. Why do we burn coal and trees to make solar panels? hiddenhistorycenter.org/wp-content/upl…
8,112 tons of quartz, 1,859 tons of coal, 2,028 tons charcoal and 1,014 tons of woodchips, just for the 3,380 tons of polysilicon. Now imagine the fossil fuels needed to mine this.
It takes the largest silver mine in the the world two months to produce the silver. KGHM Mining Hub, Poland produces 39.2 Moz. per yr. So approx. 60 days of around the clock mining and mill processing. 
Aluminum. Primary production involves mining bauxite deposits from the earth, chemically refining it into pure aluminum oxide and performing electrometallurgical processing to ultimately form aluminum.
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content.
Paralysis, Arsenic Poisoning And Shocking Facts About Bauxite Mining. says.com/my/news/everyt…
It takes about 4 to 5 tons of bauxite to yield about 2 tons of alumina, or 1 ton of pure metal. So approx. 47,000 tons to produce the needed aluminum. This doesn't include the energy required.
Aluminum production from bauxite via alumina is one of the most energy-intensive processes in the industry. The carbon footprint for primary production is 12 kg of CO2eq/kg whereas the water usage varies from 495 to 1,490 L/kg. That's a lot of water.
None of this includes transporting/shipping overseas and the concrete production needed for install, nor the cost of recycling which isn't done. Cheaper to bury them in a landfill, causing all kinds of environmental damage.
The loss in solar panel efficiency over time is called degradation and it is a natural consequence of exposure of the solar panel to ultraviolet rays and adverse weather conditions. Solar panels annual production drops by 0.5% to 0.8% per year.
So once again they tell you this is #GreenEnergy without telling you about the carbon monoxide,
carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, toxic chemicals and fossil fuels needed to mine ship and produce it. So how "green" is it really? Not green at all.
carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, toxic chemicals and fossil fuels needed to mine ship and produce it. So how "green" is it really? Not green at all.
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