Years Pay Back (IMAGE)
Caption
The chart shows the number of years that a solar panel must operate in order to generate enough electricity to "pay back" the energy used to make the panel. Because there are fewer energy regulations in China, panels made there use more energy, according to the study. The colors in the bars represent contributions from the different stages of making a solar panel (e.g., 'Si feedstock' represents the carbon emitted during mining and processing of raw silicon to make the panel).
Credit
Figure by Fengqi You et. al.
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