Do Solar Photovoltaic Power Stations Have Radioactive Harm to Human Bodies?

Does a solar photovoltaic power station have radiation? With the increasing popularization of solar energy application, more and more people have installed photovoltaic panels or power stations to power up domestic electric appliances, such as lights and fans. At the same time, many people have already got t he idea that many things around them are emitting radiation in their living environments, such as cell phones, PCs, WiFi and microwave stoves. Then, a serious question arise in their minds: do photovoltaic power stations or solar panels on their roofs emit radiation? If so, will it do harm to them? With these two questions hovering their minds, many people who have already installed photovoltaic power stations and those who are planning to install solar lights for their houses come to consult Mistai Lighting (www.mistai.hk ). Is there any radiation coming out these solar photovoltaic products? What’s more, will they give out radioactive harm to their health? Let’s take a close look at solar photovoltaic products and radiation and give you a full explanation in this blog.

1. The principle of solar photovoltaic panels power generation

Solar photovoltaic panels (power stations) convert sunlight energy directly into DC power through semiconductors, and then convert it into AC power that can be used by us through an inverter. There are no chemical changes and nuclear reactions in the power-generation process so no short-wave radiation is produced.

By the way, let me explain what radiation is. This term has a wide range of meanings. Light is radiation; electromagnetic waves are radiation; particle flow is radiation, and heat is also radiation. So, to some degree,  human beings are always living in various radiations. What kind of radiation is harmful to us? Harmful radiation or radioactive harm in layperson’s term refer to those radiations which are harmful to human cells, such as those that can cause cancer and have a high probability of causing gene mutations. Generally speaking, these radiations contain short-wave radiation and some high-energy particle flow.

2. Will solar photovoltaic products emit radiation?

Based on the correspondence between common radiation substances and wavelengths, will photovoltaic panels produce radiation? During the process of photovoltaic power generation, the  mechanism of solar modules is completely the direct conversion of energy, and the energy conversion in the visible light range does not produce any other things in this process. Therefore,  no additional harmful radiation will be generated.

Meanwhile, the solar inverter is just a general electric product. Although there are IGBTs or triodes and a switching frequency of tens of thousands in such a product, it has metal shielding shells and meet the electromagnetic compatibility requirements of the world certification. In other words, all solar inverters are produced to meet international security requirements so they are safe to use for us.

3. WiFi VS photovoltaic power generation, which has the most radiation?

WiFi radiation has been commonly criticized, particularly many pregnant women who are recommended to avoid it. WiFi is actually a small local area network, mainly for data transmission. And as a wireless device, WiFi has a transmitter that does generate some electromagnetic radiation around it. However, the working power of ordinary WiFi is between 30~500 milli-watts, which is smaller than that of ordinary mobile phones (0.125~2 watts). Compared with mobile phones, WiFi devices such as wireless routers are much farther away from users, which makes people accept much smaller power density of their radiation. If you are really afraid of radiation, don't you put down your mobile phone and stay away from radiation? Since WiFi and other wireless devices used by us in our life could produce more radiation than solar photovoltaic products do, and all these radiations are within the security range, it is unnecessary for us to worry about being harmed by the radiation from solar photovoltaic products.

To conclude, although solar photovoltaic power generation could emit some radiation, it is within the safety range. Meanwhile, the environment we live in is full of radiation, both harmful and harmless. Just like those wireless devices, solar photovoltaic products are safe for us. So we don't have to worry about them.