Commune lab

Reflection

Solar panel, 2022
Project Perfunctoriness

wood, fibreboard, epoxy resin, acrylic, solar elements, prints
40x50 cm closed, 40x100 cm opened

Solar Panels Are Starting to Die, Leaving Behind Toxic Trash

For the manufacture of one square meter of a solar battery, it is necessary to spend 600 kW of electricity. These are 1000 60W light bulbs working simultaneously for 10 hours.

“If we don’t mandate recycling, many of the modules will go to landfill,” said Arizona State University solar researcher Meng Tao, who recently authored a review paper on recycling silicon solar panels, which comprise 95 percent of the solar market.

“We need to face the fact that solar panels do fail over time, and there’s a lot of them out there,” he said. “And what do we do when they start to fail? It’s not right throwing that responsibility on the consumer, and that’s where we’re at right now.”