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The problem is that solar panels generally contain fairly rare elements. If everyone in the Western World decided overnight to put solar panels on their roofs, we'd run out of those elements very quickly. It simply isn't possible with the current technology AFAIK.

Wind Turbines are a different matter; they are relative simple machines from a commodities point of view.



Having said that Nano Solar are quite interesting - not sure if they are reliant on obscure materials but they are a fascinating company - huge levels of investment in them too...

http://www.nanosolar.com/


> solar panels generally contain fairly rare elements

I'm pretty sure the standard ones are just silicon (sand) plus trace amounts of commonly-available dopants. Nothing exotic. :)

The problem of using only renewable energy sources is not a technical one.




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