Solar panels have a high carbon footprint

Myth:

Solar panels emit huge amounts of carbon dioxide during manufacture, so are only marginally more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels. They cannot cut our CO₂ emissions by any significant amount.

Fact:

There is no truth to this myth whatever.

The IPCC estimates that when manufacture, transportation and use are taken into account, solar panels emit around 41 grams of CO_2e per kilowatt-hour of electricity they produce. This compares with 490 grams for natural gas and 820 grams for coal. So solar panels are 12 times less polluting than gas and 20 times less polluting than coal. And, of course, once they can be produced using only renewables, their carbon footprint will shrink even more.

Interestingly, onshore wind has a much lower carbon footprint than solar, emitting just 11 grams of CO2e per kilowatt-hour of electricity produce.

[Source: Created using ChatGPT]

Sources:

Sam Wigness, “What is the Carbon Footprint of Solar Panels?” Solar.com, 31/8/23

Source: Aisha, “What the Carbon Footprint of Solar Panels Tells Us About the Future of Clean Energy,” The Sustainable Times, 24/3/26