Lead emissions from solar photovoltaic energy systems in China and India

China and India are embarking on ambitious initiatives over the next decade to expand solar photovoltaic (PV) power in underserved regions. China proposes adding 1.6 GW of solar capacity by 2020, while India plans 12 GW in addition to 20 million solar lanterns by 2022. These technologies rely heavily on lead-acid batteries (LABs) for storage. China and India’s lead mining, battery production, and recycling industries are relatively inefficient—33% and 22% environmental loss rates, respectively. Based on the quantity of lead batteries employed in existing PV systems, we estimate environmental lead emissions in China and India for new units installed under their solar energy goals. The average loss rates are 12 kg (China) and 8.5 kg (India) of lead lost per kW-year of installed PV capacity in these countries. The planned systems added in China and India will be responsible for 386 and 2030 kt of environmental lead loss, respectively, over their lifespan—equal to 1/3 of global lead production in 2009. Investments in environmental controls in lead smelting, battery manufacturing, and recycling industries along with improvements in battery take-back policies should complement deployment of solar PV systems to mitigate negative impacts of lead pollution.