Skip to main content
Solar sells, but need it cost the earth?
It’s sunny times for the solar industry which is expected to continue to grow rapidly — but there are still major environmental issues with how solar cells are made, explain ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
HOW GREEN IS GREEN? Recycling solar cells safely is a major challenge for the growing industry

SOLAR CELLS became a serious industry around 2000, when an exponential expansion in their installation began. Since then, they have gone on to make up a whopping — or rather, minuscule — 2 per cent of the global energy market.

They are, however, scheduled for continued extreme growth over the coming years, with the most dramatic predictions forecasting that their share of the energy market could increase to 50 per cent by 2050.

If it were possible to satisfy the entire world’s energy needs with solar power, (this is thought impossible because of the ways some energy must be used and stored) an area approximately the size of Spain would need to be totally covered in solar panels.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
POISON: Centivax workers study antivenom to counteract the bites of various snakes at the company lab in San Francisco
Science and Society / 7 May 2025
7 May 2025

A maverick’s self-inflicted snake bites could unlock breakthrough treatments – but they also reveal deeper tensions between noble scientific curiosity and cold corporate callousness, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

SCIENCE AND SOCIETY / 22 April 2025
22 April 2025

Science has always been mixed up with money and power, but as a decorative facade for megayachts, it risks leaving reality behind altogether, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

(Left) Human embryonic stem cells; (right) A patient after i
Features / 26 March 2025
26 March 2025
A small Japanese trial has reported some positive results for stem cell therapy to treat spinal-cord injuries
MORE THAN A WATERWAY: The Agua Clara (Clear Water) locks on
Science and Society / 12 March 2025
12 March 2025
Man-made canals like Panama and Suez face unprecedented challenges from extreme weather patterns and geopolitical tensions that reveal the fragility of our global trade networks, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT