First Solar says panels are safe, affordable

First Solar says panels are safe, affordable
October MAC meeting canceled
By KRIS REILLY, Editor
LUCERNE VALLEY • Representatives from a company planning two local solar power projects touted the cost-effectiveness and safety of their solar panels at the most recent meeting of the Municipal Advisory Council.
First Solar officials came from as far as Irvine, Oakland and even New York to deliver a presentation at the MAC’s September meeting (the October meeting was
canceled because not enough MAC members were available to attend).
The company, founded in 1999 and headquartered in Tempe, Ariz., is planning to build the 900-acre Rabbit Springs facility and the 160-acre Strawberry Peak facility on private land in Lucerne Valley. The presentation focused mainly on the Strawberry Peak project — located about five miles south of Highway 18 in the area of Canyon View and Desert View roads — because it will likely be built first. Neither project has completed the permitting process or obtained a power purchase agreement yet.
At the previous month’s meeting, MAC Chairman Tony Malone questioned the efficiency and safety of cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar panels — which are precisely the kind of panels made by First Solar.
First Solar Director of Project Development Michael Argentine did not directly address the power-producing efficiency of CdTe panels versus other technologies (crystalline silicon, panel for panel, is more efficient than CdTe). But Agrentine stressed the low cost and low environmental impact of CdTe panels.
“We’re the lowest cost producer of solar power at about 70 cents a watt,” Argentine said. “Our panels have the lowest carbon footprint on a lifecycle basis from cradle to grave of any (photovoltaic solar) technology.”
Argentine also touted the company’s recycling program and the sustainability of the materials (cadmium is a product of zinc mining).
Argentine also proclaimed that “The modules are safe.”
And there is research to back up his claim. According to a 2009 report in the International Journal of Toxicology, CdTe is toxic if ingested, inhaled, or improperly handled, but it’s harmless if properly captured and encapsulated. A study by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory found that photovoltaic modules like the ones made by First Solar do not present a threat to public health or the environment.
The project would generate property tax for the county but would only create two long-term jobs. Argentine said the project is expected to create 100 jobs during construction. How many of those jobs would go to local residents is unknown.
“We use subcontractors to do our construction work,” Argentine said. “Because the work is going to be done here, they’re going to hire here to the extent possible.”