this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2026
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How are solar panels made? Doesn't it involve mining? Is it renewable?
I can really recommend this video by Technology Connections which answers your questions very well. It is long but entertaining and educational. The last 30 minutes is basically a rant about politics and I love every second of it.
they're becoming pretty recyclable as far as i understand.
It’s massively impractical. You’re never gonna believe it.
These things require silicon (good luck finding sand!), but they’re mostly glass and aluminum (ridiculously rare substances that we can’t use willy-nilly on stuff that only lasts for 25 years, and then how are we gonna recycle that? we have no idea how to recycle glass and aluminum!), and then to make it scalable you’re gonna want some safe battery technology like sodium-ion (but where are we gonna find a bunch of salt on this blue planet?)
They are mostly glass and silica I think. The thing that generates electricity is basically a reverse LED. They are also highly recyclable, as the video linked in the other comment explains.