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Solar Panel (crystalline silicon photovoltaic) — outdoor safety profile

Moderate risk

Not medical, veterinary, or professional safety advice, and not a substitute for a qualified professional — consult one. Full disclaimer →

Crystalline silicon photovoltaic solar panels for residential/commercial rooftop installation.

What is this product?

Crystalline silicon photovoltaic solar panels for residential/commercial rooftop installation. Contains lead solder (2-5g per panel), cadmium traces (in some thin-film types), silicon tetrachloride waste from manufacturing, and PFAS-containing backsheets. Normal operation exposure is nil, but end-of-life disposal of millions of panels creates lead and cadmium leaching risk in landfills. Manufacturing involves hazardous chemicals (HF acid, silicon tetrachloride). Some backsheet materials contain PFAS for weather resistance.

What's in it

Click any compound name for its full safety profile, regulatory consensus, and exposure data.

Solder

  • Lead (Pb) — 2-5g per panel; leaching risk at end-of-life in landfill

Safer alternatives

  • Lead-free solder panels
  • Thin-film CdTe with manufacturer recycling (First Solar)
  • Perovskite solar (emerging, lead-free options)

Frequently asked questions

What's in Solar Panel (crystalline silicon photovoltaic)?

This product type can contain: Lead, among others. Click any compound name above for the full safety profile.

Are there safer alternatives to Solar Panel (crystalline silicon photovoltaic)?

Yes — consider: Lead-free solder panels; Thin-film CdTe with manufacturer recycling (First Solar); Perovskite solar (emerging, lead-free options). See the Safer alternatives section above for details.

Sources (18)

Citations carried on this product's ALETHEIA record. A bracketed number in the text links to its entry here.

  1. ALETHEIA Safety Database — expert_curation
  2. IEC 61215 (design qualification) — regulation
  3. IEC 61730 (safety) — regulation
  4. EU WEEE Directive (e-waste recycling) — regulation
  5. California SB 489 (solar panel recycling) — regulation
  6. RoHS (lead exemption for PV) — regulation
  7. CDC - Lead Poisoning Prevention — cdc (inherited from a compound record)
  8. WHO - Lead Poisoning Fact Sheet (2024) — who (inherited from a compound record)
  9. IHME Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 - Lead Exposure — ihme (inherited from a compound record)
  10. Angrand et al. Relation of blood lead levels and lead in gasoline: an updated systematic review (2022) — journal (inherited from a compound record)
  11. Silbergeld et al. Lead and osteoporosis: mobilization of lead from bone in postmenopausal women (1988) — journal (inherited from a compound record)
  12. Merck Veterinary Manual - Lead Poisoning — vet (inherited from a compound record)
  13. ATSDR - Toxicological Profile for Lead — cdc (inherited from a compound record)
  14. Reuben et al. Association of Childhood Lead Exposure With Adult Personality Traits and Lifelong Mental Health (2019) — journal (inherited from a compound record)
  15. Kovarik. Charles F. Kettering and the 1921 discovery of tetraethyl lead — journal (inherited from a compound record)
  16. McFarland et al. Half of US population exposed to adverse lead levels in early childhood (2022) — journal (inherited from a compound record)
  17. Reuben A. Childhood Lead Exposure and Adult Neurodegenerative Disease. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (2018) -- corrected author attribution (the record misattributed this to "Bellinger"; David Bellinger is thanked only for correspondence/review in the acknowledgments, not an author) (2018) — journal (inherited from a compound record)
  18. The Lancet Planetary Health - Global health burden and cost of lead exposure (2023) — journal (inherited from a compound record)

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Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific information. Why we built ALETHEIA →