> Solar panels involve mining coal (so much more moving away from the coal economy)
I can't think of any use for coal in production of a solar panel, so is your argument here that manufacturing anything uses electricity and therefore coal?
That doesn't seem like a good argument. Especially given that a nuclear plant tends to involve a huge quantity of concrete (which gives off major amounts of greenhouse gases and requires mining as well).
> will pile up as toxic junk after 10 years or so.
The lifespan of a commercial panel is 25-30+ years (most look to be warrantied to 25)
And in reality, many will continue producing power longer than that, just at a lower rate than their original nameplate capacity. I expect most of those solar farms will wind up in service for many decades.
Claiming that their lifespan is 10 years is something I feel needs some sort of supporting evidence.
> I can't think of any use for coal in production of a solar panel
Silicon is produced by carbothermic reduction of silica in arc furnaces. Charcoal can be used, though (and is use by some producers; I think the porosity helps silicon monoxide gas react with the carbon.)
I can't think of any use for coal in production of a solar panel, so is your argument here that manufacturing anything uses electricity and therefore coal?
That doesn't seem like a good argument. Especially given that a nuclear plant tends to involve a huge quantity of concrete (which gives off major amounts of greenhouse gases and requires mining as well).
> will pile up as toxic junk after 10 years or so.
The lifespan of a commercial panel is 25-30+ years (most look to be warrantied to 25)
Failure rates appear to be very low, per NREL: https://www.nrel.gov/news/program/2017/failures-pv-panels-de...
And in reality, many will continue producing power longer than that, just at a lower rate than their original nameplate capacity. I expect most of those solar farms will wind up in service for many decades.
Claiming that their lifespan is 10 years is something I feel needs some sort of supporting evidence.