Electronic Design is a nice, thoughtful, and wonderful resource that I get mailed and emailed to me ever since I went to tech school in the 1990's. I have tried to see how renewable energy resources could be set up in my cooperative and while it isn't going to happen in the near future I'd still like to see it so! Anyway this is ED weighing in on the subject in what is probably almost and editorial:
No doubt, most people in the electronics industry support the long-term benefits of adhering to Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directives. The long-term environmental benefits are well proven. I find it strange, then, that a recent EU Parliamentary decision excluded renewable energy technology like solar power from the RoHS Directives, particularly since some use very nasty chemicals
This decision ultimately reveals a conflict—the need to encourage and hasten the introduction of renewable energy technologies for the sake of the environment, yet not hinder such objectives by making the renewable technology more difficult or costly to manufacture.
The problem environmentally is that many renewable energy technologies use harmful substances like cadmium. Obviously, allowing the use of such chemicals contradicts the environmental benefits of renewable energy systems. It raises a very important and difficult question: Are some renewable technologies really green, or do they actually harm the environment?
http://electronicdesign.com/article/power/...letter&nl=1
