Solar panels generate around 30 times more power during their lifetime than what is required to manufacture them. This means that a solar panel “pays back” the power that was needed to manufacture it in less than a year on average – a figure that, similarly to the environmental footprint of solar, is constantly improving as solar is becoming more mature.
The Sustainability Task Force has published a set of Solar Factsheets covering a number of sustainability-related issues around solar power, such as environmental impact, recycling and materials criticality, with the objective of conclusively debunking myths around solar.