Cutting the cardboard

Cutting the cardboard       A big frustration for solar integration firms, and an inadvertent antithesis to the whole meaning of being 'green,' is dealing with the mounds of cardboard from traditional solar photovoltaic (PV) panel packaging.
      'For a big job, we could easily have a trailerload of cardboard to dispose of,' said Jonah Liebes, general manager of HelioPower. 'That can be an entire day's work to dispose of properly.'
      Some solar panel manufacturers have started to reduce cardboard packaging when shipping their products.
      Sharp Electronics has cut back its cardboard packaging by as much as 75 percent, and Evergreen Solar has done away with it altogether.
      'It's a huge plus for me operationally, and my installers don't have to deal with it on the job site,' Liebes said, praising these two companies' conservation efforts.
      Evergreen Solar uses small plastic pieces on the ends of each PV panel corner. When stacked on a pallet, the corner pieces provide support and some separation between the panels. Evergreen then tops off the pallet with a sheet of plywood, wraps it with plastic sheeting, and secures the load with either plastic or metal bands for transport.
      Liebes said cardboard for the most part doesn't add that much to the protection of the PV panels. 'A forklift blade could just as easy go through the cardboard,' he said.
      Liebes is hopeful that more solar panel manufacturers will follow Evergreen Solar's and Sharp's lead to find more ways to reduce or eliminate cardboard and other packaging waste. 'It's about being green, and isn't that why these companies are in the business in the first place?' he said.