Renewable Energy Stocks Close-Up; The Carbon Footprint of Solar Stocks
June 12 2008 - 11:04AM
Marketwired
POINT ROBERTS, WA and DELTA, BC and First Solar.
The US Department of Energy reports, "Modern solar electric
power-generation systems such as photovoltaics (or PV) are some of
the most elegant and environmentally benign energy systems ever
invented."
Quoting a report published in January 2008, 'Emissions from
Photovoltaic Life Cycles,' "Photovoltaic (PV) technologies have
shown remarkable progress recently in terms of annual production
capacity and life-cycle environmental performances, which
necessitate timely updates of environmental indicators." The report
further states, "Overall, all PV technologies generate far less
life-cycle air emissions per GWh than conventional
fossil-fuel-based electricity generation technologies. At least 89%
of air emissions associated with electricity generation could be
prevented if electricity from photovoltaics displaces electricity
from the grid."
Source:
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/esthag/2008/42/i06/abs/es071763q.html
Keeping tabs on life-cycle emissions of carbon, chemicals and
heavy metals used in products is nothing new, but the trend now
appears to be accelerating which may force some "Green"
technologies such as solar PV to revisit their environmental impact
and overall carbon and environmental footprint.
Tom Djokovich, CEO, of XsunX, Inc. (OTCBB: XSNX), a solar
technology company engaged in the build-out of its multi-megawatt
amorphous silicon thin film photovoltaic (TFPV) solar module
manufacturing facilities, reports, "There's a growing interest
within the sustainable energy industry in developing green
credentials across the entire footprint of your brand. Here at
XsunX we're working to balance our industrial manufacturing needs
and product designs to minimize our impact on the environment we're
working to improve."
He continued, "With XsunX, about half of the power our new 25
mega watt solar module manufacturing plant will use comes from
renewable energy in the Pacific Northwest, we are recycling an
existing building and numerous pieces of support equipment so as
not to waste resources and the design of our thin film amorphous
solar module does not transfer any toxic materials into the product
or environment unlike the heavy metal concerns addressing some of
the other module manufacturers in the industry."
As evidence of the growth in accessing long term environmental
impact between various solar technologies the January 2008,
'Emissions from Photovoltaic Life Cycles,' report presents a
comparative analysis between four PV technologies, "Based on PV
production data of 2004-2006, this study presents the life-cycle
greenhouse gas emissions, criteria pollutant emissions, and heavy
metal emissions from four types of major commercial PV systems:
multicrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon, ribbon silicon,
and thin-film cadmium telluride. Life-cycle emissions were
determined by employing average electricity mixtures in Europe and
the United States during the materials and module production for
each PV system. Among the current vintage of PV technologies,
thin-film cadmium telluride (CdTe) PV emits the least amount of
harmful air emissions as it requires the least amount of energy
during the module production. However, the differences in the
emissions between different PV technologies are very small in
comparison to the emissions from conventional energy technologies
that PV could displace."
Companies that make cadmium-telluride solar cells include
Q-Cells and First Solar. According to First Solar's website, "First
Solar's advanced CdTe technology is instrumental in accomplishing
our environmental mission. CdTe is uniquely capable of producing
low cost solar modules, making widespread, cost-effective solar
electricity a reality. Its physical properties are optimal for
converting sunlight into electricity, resulting in highly efficient
photovoltaics with thin (< 3 micron) semiconductor layers. CdTe
is a robust material with the demonstrated capacity for high
volume, low cost production."
Policies related to the introduction of heavy metals and other
hazardous chemicals into the environment differ from region to
region with the European Union adopting some of the most stringent
guidelines. The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive
(RoHS) effective in July 2006, in the European Union has attracted
concern about its impact on some of the companies in the sector.
The restriction mandates a maximum content of 0.1wt % lead (Pb) and
0.01 wt % cadmium (Cd) is allowed in homogeneous materials. The
restrictions currently exempt the solar industry but there is a
push for the reduction or substitution of the heavy-metal content
in the Photovoltaic market in the EU to maintain its green
image.
Investors following solar stocks can research the sector using
the Renewableenergystocks.com stock directory and also read recent
and past columns by on-site solar expert, J. Peter Lynch.
Featured Solar Showcase Company:
Solar Company XsunX, (OTCBB: XSNX) is developing amorphous
silicon thin film photovoltaic (TFPV) solar cell manufacturing
processes to produce TFPV solar modules. Visit Media showcase:
http://www.investorideas.com/co/xsnx/default.asp or
http://www.xsunx.com
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Disclaimer: Our sites do not make recommendations. Nothing on
our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or
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we offer no guarantees as to the accuracy of information presented.
All Information relating to featured companies is sourced from
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compensated by featured showcase companies, news submissions and
online advertising. XsunX solar showcase company compensates the
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