Impactos ambientais gerados por painéis fotovoltaicos

Economic growth combined with increased energy demand has raised greenhouse gas emission rates, since the main energy matrices for electricity generation come from fossil fuels. Seeking a solution to this problem, the generation of energy through renewable sources has gained wide relevance on the world stage, enabling the photovoltaic energy matrix, which is the direct conversion of light into electricity, to reach a prominent position in relation to other sources, reaching high rates of installation in the country. The adoption of these systems by consumers was a great alternative to reduce costs with energy tariffs and expand the growth of this market. Photovoltaic modules have a useful life between 25 and 30 years and have a great diversity of materials in their composition, some of which are toxic elements. In addition, obtaining electrical energy through this process is seen as a clean alternative, but this aspect refers to the panel operation stage. Therefore, the present research carried out a study on the environmental impacts caused by photovoltaic panels. Its data came from bibliographic research in books, scientific articles, dissertations, manuals and technical sheets in Portuguese and English, which report on the subject in question derived from the production, installation, operation and inappropriate disposal of photovoltaic panels. After collecting the data, tables were produced, with the identification and classification of the impacts pointed out by the main authors. In the production phase, it is necessary carrying out various activities sush as the extraction of raw material, responsible for altering the local relief and displacement of the fauna, the transport of this material to the industries, which generates the risk of running over and its processing, which releases contaminants into the environment. In the installation stage, impacts related to the generation of noise and powdery material were found, while in the operation, water contamination occurs due to the module cleaning process. Regarding the end of life of photovoltaic solar panels, if the waste from these systems is inappropriately discardeds, it can cause several negative impacts on the environment and human health as a result of to leaching of lead and cadmium, loss of conventional materials and rare metals. The results obtained showed that the production phase of photovoltaic panels comprises the largest and most severe environmental impacts. Based on the topics discussed in the present work, it was concluded that photovoltaic energy, despite its known benefits, has relevant impacts on the environment. Although the technology is promising, it is important that practices are adopted in its development that mitigate the impacts listed in this work.