Environmental, health, and safety aspects of photovoltaics
During normal operation, photovoltaic (PV) systems will present no health concerns and only few environmental or safety problems. However, when one considers the entire cycle from raw material acquisition through ultimate disposal including abnormal operation, especially for the various far-term options, one encounters points which need study and possible situations which need monitoring. These issues, a plan for resolving them, and preliminary results are discussed. Topics for study include known or suspected toxicity of some PV cell components, health-effects data gaps, difficulties in predicting toxicity, possible synergistic enhancement of trace pollutants, the effect of government regulations on the PV industry, etc. The plan for dealing with them involves augmenting the existing capability at two Lead Centers with a Field Center devoted entirely to these matters. Results to date, derived largely from workshops, indicate that the relatively few near-term health problems expected will be mostly occupational rather than public, with exposures more likely to be accidental than routine, and process containment and cell encapsulation playing important protection roles. Nevertheless, modest programs are needed to define these problems better, provide more health-effects information, and implement a careful detailed environmental assessment. Based on these considerations, vigorous PV technology development seems clearly warranted.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH00016
- OSTI ID:
- 6889002
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-28436; CONF-801097-1
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1980 photovoltaic solar energy conference, Cannes, France, 27 Oct 1980
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
SOLAR CELLS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
HEALTH HAZARDS
ACCIDENTS
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
PRODUCTION
SAFETY
TOXICITY
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
EQUIPMENT
HAZARDS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
140400* - Solar Energy- Environmental Aspects
140501 - Solar Energy Conversion- Photovoltaic Conversion