Copper:

Copper founds in many components of PV cells. The reason behind using this metal is its property as a good conductor of electricity. Copper is also known to be very malleable and ductile metal.

However, Copper is not all good. Minning activities are having a significant impact on the environment. Deforestation is the first thing which hurts the environment, by creating a disturbance to the ecosystem of the forest. Also, mining results in the degradation of land, killing its natural habitat. It too forces the animals to leave from the area.

Water in the mines also contains heavy metals like cadmium and lead, which leads to water pollution near water bodies as these metals are very toxic.

Not just that, Copper doesn’t break down in the environment. And the smelting process also creates pollution.

Besides, Copper is a 100% recyclable product without any loss to its quality. It also requires very less energy to recycle. Copper is the most recycled metal in the world after iron and aluminium.

In short, Copper may have some disadvantages regarding mining and production, but ones it gets produced, then it can benefit the environment because of its good recycling ability.

Although, as the demand for solar energy increases, this will create new challenges in copper demand.