“… trace toxic metals like lead and cadmium can pollute soil and water if mishandled …”
India’s solar boom faces a hidden waste problem
Nikita Yadav
India’s rapid solar energy expansion is widely hailed as a success. But without a plan to manage the waste it will generate, how clean is the transition?
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Solar growth has cut India’s reliance on coal. Though thermal and other non-renewables still supply over half of installed capacity, solar now contributes more than 20%. Yet the achievement carries a challenge: while clean in use, solar panels can pose environmental risks if not properly managed.
Solar panels are mostly recyclable, made of glass, aluminium, silver, and polymers – but trace toxic metals like lead and cadmium can pollute soil and water if mishandled.
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A new study by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) estimates that India could generate more than 11 million tonnes of solar waste by 2047. Managing this would require almost 300 dedicated recycling facilities and an investment of $478 (£362m) over the next two decades.
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Damaged or discarded panels often end up in landfills or with unauthorised recyclers, where unsafe methods can release toxic materials. The BBC has contacted India’s renewable energy ministry for comment.
How insane is this? Three decades after lead was banned in gasoline, renewables have re-introduced the risk of lead contamination back into the environment through the challenge of disposing of millions of tons of e-waste.
Given illegal dumping is more likely to occur in rural areas, a disproportionate amount of that solar panel heavy metal contamination could end up in the human food chain.
Of course you don’t have to dump the panels in the countryside. In cities there is another cheap and nasty way to dispose of solar panels. Non-recyclable solar panel silicon, which contains much of the heavy metal contamination, can be burned in an industrial incinerator providing the incinerator temperature is above 750F. The ash from solar panels would look like high quality construction sand – the heavy metal contamination would not be obvious. I can easily imagine such contaminated sand being deviously inserted into the construction industry as cut price building material, ending up in play ground sand pits or being used to build homes and schools.
Surely it is time to review this ghastly new threat to our children’s health, before we end up with 10s of millions of tons of contaminated solar panel waste poisoning our kids.
Maine Republicans Scorch Mills Admin for Enabling Alleged Somali Medicaid Fraud at Gateway Community Services Harrington noted that while the state recently moved to suspend funding to Gateway, the action came only after national media coverage and federal attention intensified.
This articles shows, fires or not, battery systems to absorb midday solar and release it during evening peak hours, are absolutely not the way to store large quantities of electricity. At 40% annual average throughput, nearly impossible to achieve, the cost would be 38.1 c/kWh.
BATTERY SYSTEM CAPITAL COSTS, OPERATING COSTS, ENERGY LOSSES, AND AGING https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/battery-system-capital... by Willem Post . If we used wind, we would be dependent on Europe If we used solar, we would be dependent on China We would be screwed up and down and sideways with high cost/kWh energy We would be totally uncompetitive on domestic and world markets No energy dominance ever!! . Utility-scale, battery system pricing usually not made public, but for this system it was. Neoen, in western Australia, turned on its 219 MW/ 877 MWh Tesla Megapack battery, the largest in western Australia. Ultimately, a 560 MW/2,240 MWh battery system, $1,100,000,000/2,240,000 kWh = $491/kWh, delivered as AC, late 2024 pricing. Smaller capacity systems cost much more than $500/kWh . Annual Cost of Megapack Battery Systems; 2023 pricing Assume 45.3 MW/181.9 MWh; turnkey cost $104.5 million; 104,500,000/181,900 = $574/kWh, per Example 2 Amortize bank loan, 50% of $104.5 million, at 6.5%/y for 15 years, $5.484 million/y Pay Owner return, 50% of $104.5 million, at 10%/y for 15 years, $6.765 million/y (10% due to high inflation) Lifetime (Bank + Owner) payments 15 x (5.484 + 6.765) = $183.7 million Assume battery daily usage, 15 years at 10%; loss factor = 1 / (0.9 *0.9) Battery lifetime output = 15 y x 365 d/y x 181.9 MWh x 0.1, usage x 1000 kWh/MWh = 99,590,250 kWh to HV grid; 122,950,926 kWh from HV grid; 233,606,676 kWh loss (Bank + Owner) payments, $183.7 million / 99,590,250 kWh = 184.5 c/kWh Less 50% subsidies (tax credits, 5-y depreciation, loan interest deduction, etc.) is 92.3c/kWh Subsidies shift costs from project Owners to ratepayers, taxpayers, government debt. . Excluded costs/kWh: 1) O&M; 2) system aging, 1.5%/y, 3) loss factor 1 / (0.9*0.9), HV grid-to-HV grid, 4) grid extension/reinforcement to connect battery systems, 5) downtime of parts of the system, 6) decommissioning in year 15, i.e., disassembly, reprocessing, storing at hazardous waste sites. Excluded costs would add at least 15 c/kWh
COMMENTS ON CALCULATION Almost all existing battery systems operate at less than 10%, see top URL, i.e., new systems would operate at about 92.4 + 15 = 107.4 c/kWh. They are used to stabilize the grid, i.e., frequency control and counteracting up/down W/S outputs. If 40% throughput, 23.1 + 15 = 38.1 c/kWh. That is on top of the cost/kWh of the electricity taken from the HV grid to charge the batteries Up to 40% could occur by absorbing midday solar peaks and discharging during late-afternoon/early-evening, in sunny California and other such states. The more solar systems, the greater the midday peaks. See top URL for Megapacks required for a one-day wind lull in New England 40% throughput is close to Tesla’s recommendation of 60% maximum throughput, i.e., not charge above 80% and not discharge below 20%, to perform 24/7/365 service for 15 y, with normal aging. Owners of battery systems with fires, likely charged above 80% and discharged below 20% to maximize profits. Tesla’s recommendation was not heeded by the Owners of the Hornsdale Power Reserve in Australia. They excessively charged/discharged the system. After a few years, they added Megapacks to offset rapid aging of the original system, and added more Megapacks to increase the rating of the expanded system. http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/the-hornsdale-power-res... Regarding any project, Banks and Owners have to be paid, no matter what. I amortized the Bank loan and Owner’s investment Divide total payments over 15 years by the throughput during 15 years, to get c/kWh, as shown. Loss factor = 1 / (0.9 *0.9), from HV grid to 1) step-down transformer, 2) front-end power electronics, 3) into battery, 4) out of battery, 5) back-end power electronics, 6) step-up transformer, to HV grid, i.e., draw about 50 units from HV grid to deliver about 40 units to HV grid. That gets worse with aging. A lot of people do not like these c/kWh numbers, because they have been misled by self-serving folks, that “battery Nirvana is just around the corner”. . NOTE: EV battery packs cost about $135/kWh, before it is installed in the car. Such packs are good for 6 to 8 years, used about 2 h/d, at an average speed of 30 mph. Utility battery systems are used 24/7/365 for 15 years
BBC: “India’s solar boom faces a hidden waste problem”
by Willem Post
5 hours ago
BBC: “India’s solar boom faces a hidden waste problem”
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/bbc-india-s-solar-boom-faces-a-hidden-waste-problem
Essay by Eric Worrall
“… trace toxic metals like lead and cadmium can pollute soil and water if mishandled …”
How insane is this? Three decades after lead was banned in gasoline, renewables have re-introduced the risk of lead contamination back into the environment through the challenge of disposing of millions of tons of e-waste.
Given illegal dumping is more likely to occur in rural areas, a disproportionate amount of that solar panel heavy metal contamination could end up in the human food chain.
Of course you don’t have to dump the panels in the countryside. In cities there is another cheap and nasty way to dispose of solar panels. Non-recyclable solar panel silicon, which contains much of the heavy metal contamination, can be burned in an industrial incinerator providing the incinerator temperature is above 750F. The ash from solar panels would look like high quality construction sand – the heavy metal contamination would not be obvious. I can easily imagine such contaminated sand being deviously inserted into the construction industry as cut price building material, ending up in play ground sand pits or being used to build homes and schools.
Surely it is time to review this ghastly new threat to our children’s health, before we end up with 10s of millions of tons of contaminated solar panel waste poisoning our kids.
Thinklike A. Mountain
Maine Republicans Scorch Mills Admin for Enabling Alleged Somali Medicaid Fraud at Gateway Community Services
Harrington noted that while the state recently moved to suspend funding to Gateway, the action came only after national media coverage and federal attention intensified.
“This did not happen because Democratic leadership suddenly decided to act,” Harrington said. “It happened because the story would not go away.”
https://robinsonreport.substack.com/p/watch-maine-republicans-scorc...
1 hour ago
Willem Post
This articles shows, fires or not, battery systems to absorb midday solar and release it during evening peak hours, are absolutely not the way to store large quantities of electricity. At 40% annual average throughput, nearly impossible to achieve, the cost would be 38.1 c/kWh.
BATTERY SYSTEM CAPITAL COSTS, OPERATING COSTS, ENERGY LOSSES, AND AGING
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/battery-system-capital...
by Willem Post
.
If we used wind, we would be dependent on Europe
If we used solar, we would be dependent on China
We would be screwed up and down and sideways with high cost/kWh energy
We would be totally uncompetitive on domestic and world markets
No energy dominance ever!!
.
Utility-scale, battery system pricing usually not made public, but for this system it was.
Neoen, in western Australia, turned on its 219 MW/ 877 MWh Tesla Megapack battery, the largest in western Australia.
Ultimately, a 560 MW/2,240 MWh battery system, $1,100,000,000/2,240,000 kWh = $491/kWh, delivered as AC, late 2024 pricing. Smaller capacity systems cost much more than $500/kWh
.
Annual Cost of Megapack Battery Systems; 2023 pricing
Assume 45.3 MW/181.9 MWh; turnkey cost $104.5 million; 104,500,000/181,900 = $574/kWh, per Example 2
Amortize bank loan, 50% of $104.5 million, at 6.5%/y for 15 years, $5.484 million/y
Pay Owner return, 50% of $104.5 million, at 10%/y for 15 years, $6.765 million/y (10% due to high inflation)
Lifetime (Bank + Owner) payments 15 x (5.484 + 6.765) = $183.7 million
Assume battery daily usage, 15 years at 10%; loss factor = 1 / (0.9 *0.9)
Battery lifetime output = 15 y x 365 d/y x 181.9 MWh x 0.1, usage x 1000 kWh/MWh = 99,590,250 kWh to HV grid; 122,950,926 kWh from HV grid; 233,606,676 kWh loss
(Bank + Owner) payments, $183.7 million / 99,590,250 kWh = 184.5 c/kWh
Less 50% subsidies (tax credits, 5-y depreciation, loan interest deduction, etc.) is 92.3c/kWh
Subsidies shift costs from project Owners to ratepayers, taxpayers, government debt.
.
Excluded costs/kWh: 1) O&M; 2) system aging, 1.5%/y, 3) loss factor 1 / (0.9*0.9), HV grid-to-HV grid, 4) grid extension/reinforcement to connect battery systems, 5) downtime of parts of the system, 6) decommissioning in year 15, i.e., disassembly, reprocessing, storing at hazardous waste sites. Excluded costs would add at least 15 c/kWh
COMMENTS ON CALCULATION
Almost all existing battery systems operate at less than 10%, see top URL, i.e., new systems would operate at about 92.4 + 15 = 107.4 c/kWh. They are used to stabilize the grid, i.e., frequency control and counteracting up/down W/S outputs. If 40% throughput, 23.1 + 15 = 38.1 c/kWh.
That is on top of the cost/kWh of the electricity taken from the HV grid to charge the batteries
Up to 40% could occur by absorbing midday solar peaks and discharging during late-afternoon/early-evening, in sunny California and other such states. The more solar systems, the greater the midday peaks.
See top URL for Megapacks required for a one-day wind lull in New England
40% throughput is close to Tesla’s recommendation of 60% maximum throughput, i.e., not charge above 80% and not discharge below 20%, to perform 24/7/365 service for 15 y, with normal aging.
Owners of battery systems with fires, likely charged above 80% and discharged below 20% to maximize profits.
Tesla’s recommendation was not heeded by the Owners of the Hornsdale Power Reserve in Australia. They excessively charged/discharged the system. After a few years, they added Megapacks to offset rapid aging of the original system, and added more Megapacks to increase the rating of the expanded system.
http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/the-hornsdale-power-res...
Regarding any project, Banks and Owners have to be paid, no matter what. I amortized the Bank loan and Owner’s investment
Divide total payments over 15 years by the throughput during 15 years, to get c/kWh, as shown.
Loss factor = 1 / (0.9 *0.9), from HV grid to 1) step-down transformer, 2) front-end power electronics, 3) into battery, 4) out of battery, 5) back-end power electronics, 6) step-up transformer, to HV grid, i.e., draw about 50 units from HV grid to deliver about 40 units to HV grid. That gets worse with aging.
A lot of people do not like these c/kWh numbers, because they have been misled by self-serving folks, that “battery Nirvana is just around the corner”.
.
NOTE: EV battery packs cost about $135/kWh, before it is installed in the car. Such packs are good for 6 to 8 years, used about 2 h/d, at an average speed of 30 mph. Utility battery systems are used 24/7/365 for 15 years
40 minutes ago