How Solar Panels Are Made

Gigawatts upon gigawatts of clean, green solar capacity is being churned out by high-tech factories all around the world. But how are solar panels actually made? Join us now on a sun-seeking sojourn as we look inside a solar panel factory.
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Imagery supplied via Getty Images

[@stupidhead9117]

Bravo. Under ten minutes, and full of info. Thumbs up!

[@IbrahimMohammed-pq9in]

Thanks for this content I've been wanting to know

[@raguramanb6622]

Generating power is one challenge. Storing generated power is another. Would be great to have your views on latest storage tech (Lithium ion, solid state etc)

[@arpanchatterjee6663]

Yeah, and I came to know that Lithium mining also isn't good and increases carbon footprint..

[@Ry_TSG]

@@arpanchatterjee6663 Well, with today's equipment it is. The cruel joke is that to lower emissions from mining, you need green power and electric equipment. But to make them, you need lithium.

[@Ilovecruise]

@@Ry_TSG that’s where sodium battery and iron-air battery comes, although the per kg capacity is much slower, but so does the cost and rare earth material used

[@caelansmith]

Lithium Ion is great for energy storage up to 4 hours but after that, my money is on hydrogen storage

[@bekeleali9707]

Thank.you.everyone

[@TechSpottt]

Great video about magnificent technology! Solar power is really underrated.

[@MusicToTheEars141]

Yes! Been waiting for one like this.

[@Ikbeneengeit]

How to make a solar panel: 1) sand something something boron, not important, 2) then assemble them together

[@AnalogueKid2112]

Slight correction, some of the stock footage was of solar thermal plants, which work in an entirely different way

[@jfbeam]

That's the first thing I noticed, too. Those are mirrors, not solar panels.

[@samsaturos]

@@jfbeam same here! @1:10 for those who are wondering.

[@koustavroy9114]

Solar panels will shape India's future of Energy consumption and management!!

[@phoenixmedia152]

Great content💪

[@francolosasso9273]

Very good video!!!!

[@ajayshukla6366]

The way he pronounces the indian accent words is just so legit 😂😂

[@bigfootwalker3822]

Loved your video! Thanks for uploading.🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼

[@lunvinsing369]

Thanks for sharing

[@shutkimerymarngar3245]

I am searching for this answer. Thankyou so your great explanation.. and sir I want to know what about Solar Gold Coat Project in Gujarat Thar Desert. Please give this information also.. Thankyou

[@JasonFoks]

BREH THIS VID IS Awesome !!!

[@SolarOwners]

Absolutely intriguing to see how solar panels come to life! The precision and technology involved are quite impressive. It's amazing to consider not just the production but also the lifecycle of these panels. What are everyone's thoughts on the innovations in solar technology recycling? Are we doing enough to ensure sustainability throughout the entire process?

[@s.annadurais.annadurai7128]

What is the R&D solar system is described in mind thinking about you say thanks for your feedback thanks.

[@pranavmukesh1524]

Thanks for mentioning Tamil Nadu

[@cjod33]

Interesting, they always seem to leave out what the source of carbon is. It's coal.

[@olanrewajuadam7499]

Hopefully I'll start my own soonest

[@rickhobson3211]

So the solar farm shown in the first few seconds in a video about how solar PV panels are made is of a solar-thermal power plant. >.>

[@davidanalyst671]

yeah, im not sure this person knows anything more than the rest of us.

[@456123789258]

Yep and the 'ingots' are silicon crystals

[@terrystephens1102]

I think solar is very exciting 😃👌👌👏👏👏👏❤️

[@future_phonk]

"silica sand" = mining quartz... "source of carbon" = mining coal...

[@aadii8759]

Quartz is more than coal? And coal burns and produce energy and pollution too silica doesn't

[@alparslankorkmaz2964]

Nice video.

[@s.annadurais.annadurai7128]

Thanks yours feedback from Thoothukudi thanks for your feedback thanks .

[@rajatdani619]

😗😊😊very nice video.😀

[@alvarom684]

incredible! i would like to know the name of the manipulator that appears between 3:12 - 3:17 and between 5:37 - 5:42 thank you!

[@AMOOBABATUNDEYAKUB]

Thanks for this content, I just realized 60% of the material are available locally in Nigeria. I will Like to venture into this Soon.

[@JeevanSamagar]

Solar technologies require rare materials

[@shy1509]

Mainly boron not sure about phosphorus though all others such as argon gas silicon dioxide , silicon , glass which is sand and a few other ingredients to make the glass clear-

[@ThaedDavid]

I felt like the parts I was interested in; the materials and manufacturing of solar cells, was a bit rushed, and the parts I already knew or didn't care about, like India's solar goals, took up too much time. Other than that very good video thanks.

[@CubicSpline7713]

Wanted to know how these panels are disposed/recycled after they have reached their end of life (20 years?). I know that old wind farm structures made from concrete/fibre glass are having a tough time getting disposed of.

[@jfbeam]

They aren't tough to recycle, just expensive. (one can't simply bulldoze one onto the back of a truck. takes about as much work to take one down as it took to build.) The biggest problem is getting people to recycle, well, anything. Wind farms tend to simply be abandoned, so there's no one to clean anything up.

[@davidanalyst671]

go away recycling karen

[@CubicSpline7713]

@@davidanalyst671 wtf?

[@Polyglot0101]

@@davidanalyst671 what the fuukk dumb. You seem to be defensive karen really.

[@imrawgamertm3676]

I guess that's going to be another challenge for upcoming generations to deal with. As always our monocular view creates a temporary solution to what seems to be the current most important problem by creating another one probably even bigger. But as long there will be problems we will be looking for solutions. Hopefully

[@rabayasekara5278]

So glad that Indians are streaming ahead with solar power. Regards from Sri Lanka

[@gideoneddy676]

Good afternoon A very good idea , the solar system put out at the sea, very good idea At the sea , there have a heat ,and open space for the sun Thank you very much

[@olanrewajuadam7499]

Always wanted to know

[@thebatt6183]

fascinating

[@starmurp]

2:13 They only use high quality quartz.

[@reactional99]

how much energy is used per panel compared to how much energy the panel will generate? are they really 'green' ?

[@DISCOVERwithWursun]

1:00 I am from tamil nadu 🔥

[@hbarudi]

I support alternative energy like this but some important drawback need attention but I am glad India is building its own manufacturing to avoid China and not rely on "western" countries. The first drawback is huge land area required for solar and I prefer to put on building rooftops to use that otherwise unused space. The second is the need to store the energy to use at night and during cloudy days. The third is minimizing fossil energy consumption during manufacturing phase. The 4th is older technology with wiring on top of the cell should be redesigned to the bottom of the cell like SunPower USA does it to maximize efficiency.

[@rog38]

Pls explain more, any video of that back/bottom wiring?

[@razadaza9651]

How about that 2000 degree Celsius part?

[@dingdong7604]

Kindly tell any company that sales machine used to manufacture solar panels please.

[@razadaza9651]

I love the 2000 degree Celsius heating… lol. And you you have “mine” a certain grade of silicon usually

[@rajkumarbarla6974]

Nice

[@caradianne]

Really curious what type of person gives this a thumbsdown...

[@mmg9753]

Those who are angry with themselves..

[@petergoestohollywood382]

There are people who refuse to believe the earth is round. There’s an idiot for everything.

[@harleylewiston8255]

I'm.. 50 a.n.d m.y. husband 54 we are both retired with over $3 million in net worth and no dept's. Currently living smart and frugal with our money.serving and investing life style in the stock market made it possible for us this early even till now we earn weekly. Thanks to fire movement.

[@dagnyattkisson5956]

Great job with your husband! I bet you are living your best life right now.

[@joshuahenry2079]

I'm a young dad, I'm really glad to hear your story it inspires me.

[@user-mc6lh9sf7i]

What is fire movement please.?

[@harleylewiston8255]

@@user-mc6lh9sf7i Fire means Financial Independence Retire Early. It's been a movement teaching people financial independence and how to retire debt free through solid investment and frugal lifestyle.

[@jacobasher4932]

@@harleylewiston8255 Your story is inspiring I'm 38 trying to achieve this goal you achieved.share some tips please so others can actually learn. You haven't still share any idea on how you earn weekly.

[@jclcoolrunner]

funny the first image in this video shows mirrors, not solar panels.

[@jinxabyss1484]

Your videos are more attractive when you use berty solo leffet mer song in the background

[@AnActualCoconut]

I fix solar panel systems. Cool video

[@rockrockstar5537]

supernice

[@martindenz7750]

Nice video but shown technology is not up to date. High efficient state of the art modules use Multi-busbar half cells with 5 or more bus bars and create efficiencies over 20%.

[@user-dx6dt4vm6w]

Never forget about safety. Use Softgle Comfort

[@d4ll4sdr4gon2]

The metals used in this process need huge HUGE Construction Trucks that run on Diesel Fuel GAS OIL. With out these trucks, there is not metals no solar panels.

[@adsnmads]

The best investment you will ever do.

[@thehashbrowns6505]

1:10 those are mirrors

[@petergoestohollywood382]

Yes, but it is a heliostats power plant. But most importantly it looks really cool!

[@wolfgangrenner4152]

The theme "Solar Panels" is a typical point where old industrial nations like in EU and USA is not able to hold own production sites. Only east asia states do solar cells production. First of all is China but India seems to step into chinese path. In EU complete absence of any modern mass production facilities are found. I don't know if the USA has own solar panel factories ?

[@Ry_TSG]

The U.S has a decent amount of solar panel factories, but not nearly enough. I've only ever heard of a few in all of Europe, though. If the green new deal every becomes reality then the U.S would be a global leader in production and development, though.

[@wolfgangrenner4152]

@@Ry_TSG ; I think the USA may be able to build up significant solar panel production sites. According to the spirit of Elon Musk with Tesla etc.. But I am much more in doubt if any EU country may be able and willing to install new domestic production sites for solar energy. The first step in photovoltaic was done in Gemany. But it is the same like with photo, computer, hifi, etc. etc. Founding activities are often done from Germany. But production ist always given away to asia. Thats the main megatrend of western countries. If there will be any return to domestic production is unclear. But I think currently the USA may be more willing to fetch production back to domestic sites, than in Europe. Europe is nowadays a retirement house !

[@haja3274]

@@wolfgangrenner4152 that's because of cost difference between manufacturing in usa and manufacturing in india or asia. You can only achieve high production with the help of high level of automation. I believe production using high automation will soon shift to develop countries as credit is cheaper in developed countries.

[@wolfgangrenner4152]

@@haja3274 The so called "Cost difference" from old industry nations (USA, EU) to young industry nations (entire Asia) is the differencs in competiveness from old retired nations in the West to young bussy nations in the East. The western world needs to bring more efforts to recover their state of being "industry nations". Otherwise they will fall back to third world wealthiness situation. It is an serious problem, not really understood from the old former industry nations in the West. When there will not be any effort to build own Electronicstuff etc. in Western World, Western World will continue its decline. I live in Europe and I see what a distance nowadays between super modern asian nations appeared, compared to the rather medivial european nations. It is not got for Europe and the USA. But up to now a serious willing of make a change in EU is not seen.

[@jontopham2742]

You are right, China has mastered the craft of having slave labor factories that everyone ignores. India has so many poor people, where no one can tell the difference. The only difference is that China is intentionally enslaving ethnic minorities and looking to exploit the USA next

[@hothmandon]

solar panels aren't as green as advertised. first off the minerals used are hard to did out of the ground, second solar panels have no recycle nore repair plan so once a panel is damaged it gets replaced and tossed in the ocean. And 3rd. They have to be replaced every 20 years.

[@kasimirb5155]

Solar technology is exciting, the background music isn't.

[@savinothvideos]

I am in tamil nadu

[@hecticbru4497]

yes

[@lebiantobatara4706]

A lot of excitement

[@user-iq9ef1fv2v]

regards from iran

[@eviscero]

How much fossil fuel is used to mine and transport the silica?

[@acidmana6141]

You'll be surprised how much coal is needed to process that glass alone lmao.

[@jasonc6194]

Do you know when the megafactory in Lathrop, California is supposed to be completed? Megapacks should reach 14,000 when the factory is at capacity? $14 billion in revenue/year.

[@syu1634]

The first person to make a solar It's Malaysians ... that's the real solar technology mostly in Malaysia

[@Noyb2v]

do you have any source? i would love to know it

[@borisloncar3011]

There are two types of solar panels: 1) monocrystalline, 2) Polycrystalline panels. In addition to toys, we also have solar panels in the Solar Power Bank device (Solar Power bank is a device used to charge a smartphone or any other device that charges via USB).

[@bbminetesting6837]

Most solar power banks don't produce enough electricity to actually charge a phone. Anker makes a bigger solar panel that can produce up to 20 watts. I want to get that to charge my power banks

[@1969cmp]

Is the silica 'sand' from quartz mines. Is the source of carbon ingredient, coal. What happens to the carbon when the silica and coal super heated.

[@adirox7]

As an indian.. i feel proud of this.. thanks for covering this.

[@Polyglot0101]

Don’t feel proud unnecessarily if you didn’t contribute to this. What is there here for you to be proud of

[@oggyharamihai7654]

@@Polyglot0101 exactly

[@theexposer5303]

buy a power pack 😄

[@gabesander]

You keep showing a mirror solar farm though.

[@Daddyderon]

At 1:37 an explanation of how the bar is sliced into wafers is omitted. When the bar is cut into wafers, 50% of the bar is turned into useless dust. That's a great deal waste considering all the energy it took to fashion the silica quartz by process of heating the elements into a usable product. The quartz and carbon are heated by fuel and coal firing processes which produce pollution emissions. Might as well just used that energy for steam turbines.

[@TheDustyShed]

The carbon is also coal.

[@nealblackburn8628]

forget about the energy used and the polution created the greenies just rub their bellies and say clean green renewable energy i feel better now

[@robertbolton9450]

need recycled copper silver and aluminum and a 94 percent efficiency over 25 to 30 years and have 450 watt 1.2 kw panel. snow to on houses

[@Joylessmind]

what is these numbers? per month? in 2018 India consumed 1,547,000 GW×h/yr (accoring to wiki), for the context

[@trillionarehustler2113]

India🇮🇳 ♥️

[@stupidface9248]

Yo guys, it's almost 2023

[@kooman6021]

They’re talking about India but using Chinese Solar panel stations 😂😂

[@PRINCE_STEFAN_BRIONES]

Solution to have very fast solar energy: make a solar panel barrier in the sun 🌞😉

[@ronvosick8253]

It was talked about, Dyson solar ball.

[@biggav7434]

Great time to invest in physical silver.

[@max.c4621]

1kg of charged Uranium: 45gw/h

[@laservoid2908]

the solar panel factory uses solar panels to power its solar power making robots.

[@umakanthbojanapalli3240]

One solar panels is which voltage is produced panel efficiency which percentage ?how to improve voltage and efficiency plz improve and research plz study periodic table

[@AnishFernandes]

you first improve your grammer

[@pinkiepie1656]

What?

[@barbaramelina]

So you don’t need coal for solar panels?

[@devinheiner5692]

Survival of the fittest. No competition whatsoever. Maybe solar can still have space applications.

[@Technical_Onkar]

Osm

[@terric703]

They fail to mention that the silica is mined; you can’t use sand from the beach or desert. And that source of carbon? Coal. That’s right. Coal.

[@natbirchall1580]

Go India!!

[@moose64]

"Source of carbon" Coal.

[@ephraimsililo2235]

Camera

[@user-fx9pg5ql8l]

This video is not clear😢

[@robert9674]

All that land for solar panels and Wind Turbines wheres the food going to come from

[@johngammell4180]

Dump the music

[@bobsnabby2298]

and where is the info about recycling of Solar panels?, the time comes when you need to renew them, have you thought of that at all ?

[@alarhu]

And what the most cost-effective way to cook something in a furnace at 2000° Celsius? How many solar panels and batteries required? Doesn't look like a "green" process at all.

[@KlimovArtem1]

Um… it was more about Indian government efforts than the actual way of working or producing.

[@namaefumei]

This is an ad

[@gamingdude1926]

1:26 this source of carbon is called coal by the way 😂😂 “Green energy” it’s definitely a real lol

[@kingdomofbird8174]

Imagine using potentially scarce resources such as phosphorus...

[@commonsensewisdom625]

How much energy is to spend to make solar panel? How much green land to be covered by solar generators? Has someone evaluated overall environmental impact of solar and windmills.

[@danprodigy7776]

Since all these are a factor to you, You may as well stay in darkness so u can make good use of your green land. Wisdom my black ass.

[@db-pz1dh]

This is a good question. At the beginning of the video it shows silica being heated in a furnace. What is that furnace burning to generate the heat to melt the silica? Is the first question I asked. Then there is a silver paste. How is that created? Then all the vinyl/plastic parts...from petroleum? And the metals used must be mined, what fuel is being used to do that? Smelting metals requires more heat... Also we need alot of batteries to store energy to use, at night or on cloudy days. So that is more manufacturing and raw materials. I'm not saying I don't support solar. I'm just wondering what the environmental cost is to manufacture enough solar panels (which could be affixed to many surfaces, not just empty land) to go completely solar. Can the planet afford that much more carbon emission? And the question someone else asked about recycling the panels when they're at the end of their 20 year cycle is good too. I would love to see a documentary that explores this more in depth and the possible solutions.

[@db-pz1dh]

@bel z. I saw it. I don't know how outdated the info is. The questions about the amount of energy it takes to create solar, electric, wind turbines, nuclear reactors etc. are still valid. It's reasonable to ask for a cost and logistical analysis when considering alternative energy solutions, and to expect complete transparency about the downsides to them. What I don't want is a fluffy feel good ad campaign about how great these things are just so corps. and their lobbiests can get govt. contracts, then later we find out the net gain has only been to their shareholders, while the planet and people are no better off than before. And it seems like every time we blindly implement a new technology to fix one problem (or to make something easier or better), we end up with a different set of problems.

[@laughingachilles]

No real mention of the chemical cleaning steps which usually involve Hydrofluoric acid, Hydrochloric acid, Ammonia Hydroxide and Sulphuric acid among other chemicals. In countries like China who produce vast amounts of solar panels for the western market, these chemicals are often dumped into rivers and landfills. They also use vast amounts of water in the process which becomes contaminated and is also dumped into local locals. Such an environmentally responsible technology :)

[@ohbla101]

Don't forget the "Source of carbon" aka coal they use to fuse with the silica. And they use a coal powered furnace to melt it too. Mmmmh, soo clean.

[@abalakrishnan4152]

still, it's one of the better options we have

[@laughingachilles]

​@@abalakrishnan4152 No it's not. IF you are concerned about carbon then you need to start doing the maths on the true carbon cost of solar panels from life to death and then comparing it to the energy they produced in comparison to the carbon cost of nuclear power. In general the calculations for solar panels rarely go all the way back to the source materials and instead concentrate only on the manufacture, as a result the most quoted figures are wrong. Nuclear power would be far superior and most importantly, it's an entirely stable and predictable source of energy. Solar panels are not reliable because the power they provide is intermittent. Worse still, the panels lose efficiency in hot weather as the basic principle of the panels is undermined in such heat. Gas powered stations are superior to solar panels at this point. IF the alternatives being created based upon various mineral lattices become functional then we can talk again but until that point we need a reliable source of energy if we hope to avoid 2-3 billion people from starving to death. Solar panels also don't provide the necessary feedstock for nitrogen fertiliser production (this comes from natural gas). Do away with that or dramatically increase it's cost and you have a billion starving to death within a year.

[@vernparker2024]

It takes way to much energy and resources for a 100 watt solar panel. A microwave uses 1200-1500 watts when used. So, you’ll need about 230 billion solar panels just to run basic utilities. The earth would hallowed out like the moon if we continue to follow this process.

[@MrNote-lz7lh]

We barely even scratched the surface of earth in only a few specific places and we built the current world with just that speck. Use your brain.

[@chuck2540]

Cooked in a coal furnace with a source of carbon, more coal. LMAO.

[@MusicToTheEars141]

I just realized that this guy sound just like the gecko on GEICO's TV commercials.