Tesla's solar panels are now more efficient and affordable

engadget.com

14 pointsjskopek4 comments

Anyone knows how much production of these solar panels pollutes environment and how many years they need to work to compensate for the pollution resulted in their production?

I've always wondered about the (hidden) externalities of fossil fuel production. They are probably not all enumerated.

How much energy does it take to produce an an oil tanker, to create an oil refinery, an oil well, a pipeline, a gas station and a car?

I'll bet natural gas might be cleaner if the energy is generated near the natural gas source.

The term you are looking for is "embodied energy" or "embodied carbon".

https://heetma.org/2015/04/09/embodied-energy-in-photovoltai...

A few points of nuance:

- pollution comes in many forms, not just carbon

- only looking at the replacement product is insufficient; you need to look at the net difference in all inputs and byproducts, as well as the expected lifetimes of the two comparable prodcuts.

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