“Does it take more energy to produce a solar panel than what the same solar panel can generate in its useful lifetime?”
More Pages:
- Solar Energy: Do Solar Panels Require More Energy During Manufacturing Than They Produce Over Their Lifetime? (10/23/2011)
- Solar Turbines: How Environmentally Friendly Are Solar Cells *really*? (12/23/2011)
- Solar Energy: How Much Energy Do Solar Panels Produce In Kwh? (8/17/2011)
- Solar Energy: Price And Energy Production Of Solar Panels? (8/29/2011)
- solar power energy – how to make the panels work!?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
No. That lie is put out there by people who would lose out if solar panels ever became widely used. It does take about as much power to produce them as the panels make in 2 years in a good location, but considering their useful lifetime is at least 20-30 years, that isn’t much. Wind power produces as much power as is used to create the windmill in 7-9 months in a decent location. Neither will ever produce as much power as they required to be made if placed in the wrong location, like in the shade or a non- windy area. No coal plant would ever make as much energy as it took to build it if no coal were provided either.
Thor is right and wrong. Solar panel will produce more than they take to make. My solar panels only have a 10 year estimated useful life. They may actually last longer, but with time they lose efficiency. Here in Phoenix where the sun shines all the time, a decent solar system you purchase and pay to have installed will pay back the original investment in 15-20 years. If you are a handyman and can install it yourself it will pay back sooner.
Solar is a great system for reducing CO2 pollution, but until grid power rates increase a lot, it is still not very cost effective in most areas. It is also a myth that anyone can just install a solar system and get off grid power. Most people could not afford it, and most people would not like not having heat or air. Any system that normal people could afford could not supply anywhere near enough power for heating or air conditioning.
No. Not unless you cover it with a blanket so it never sees the Sun.
3-5 years for silicon panels in Switzerland:
http://esu-services.ch/cms/fileadmin/download/jungbluth-2007-PV-MRS.pdf
Back in 2001, thin film panels produced 7-14 times the energy used to make them over their life.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V50-439MD43-2&_user=121711&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1112551079&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000009978&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=121711&md5=80624db842584beb1a274ba9b03f1cce
Since then they have only improved. CdTe efficiencies have increased, partly by reducing material use (particularly the depth of the CdS layer)
No.