Runoff From Solar Panels

A model of a solar farm was used to simulate runoff for two conditions.

Runoff from solar panels.

Careful planning to prevent erosion is necessary with solar. In and of themselves they release no harmful atmospheric emissions. While solar panels like other electronics contain and are manufactured using toxic materials measures can be taken to minimize negative effects. The pre and postpaneled conditions.

There s no smokestack or sewage pipe from the solar collectors so it doesn t look as if they would pollute the air or water. Stormwater runoff from solar pv facilities is generated primarily from rain that falls on access roads inverter pads and solar pv panels themselves. Solar farms are large scale collections of pv photovoltaic panels spread over one to 100 acres of land. Capturing the sun s energy to generate electricity they feed into local and regional power grids regulated by public utilities.

With the passing of the green energy act in ontario in 2009 the design and construction of utility scale solar projects in ontario blossomed. Solar energy collection systems don t pollute the water or air. Photovoltaic solar panels and concentrated solar power are both methods of extracting energy from the sun. Runoff that should be explored.

Environmental scientists and solar industry leaders are raising the red flag about used solar panels which contain toxic heavy metals and are considered hazardous waste. Where imperviousness is low and soil conditions less optimal e g hsg c or d this may be sufficient to completely address stormwater management requirements. Using sensitivity analyses modeling showed that the solar panels themselves did not have a significant effect on the runoff volumes peaks or times to peak. Solar farms are rightfully advertised as a green and eco friendly alternative to coal and nuclear power generation.

Solutions range from ignoring the panels to special curve number weighting to separate routing of the flow under each panel. Silicon tetrachloride mentioned above as one of the most toxic chemicals involved in the manufacturing of panels is usually recycled by manufacturers as a cost saving measure. However they can still cause problems for the local environment in the form of serious erosion and water runoff if they aren t handled carefully during and after site preparation. With recycling expensive.

Water that falls on solar pv panels runs down the panel to the dripline and eventually falls to the underlying surface potentially causing localized erosion and or scour. In this case appearances are not deceiving.