One question that gets asked periodically is how green are technologies like solar panels given that there much be some emissions created in their manufacture and ultimate disposal.
![](https://greening.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/47375111-07B9-46C5-9929-75553F652674-801x1024.jpeg)
It’s probably no surprise that the rooftop solar PV is considerably less carbon-intensive than any fossil fuel (1/20th of coal for example) but that it beats biomass or even utility scale solar (I.e. solar farms) may be a surprise. My understanding is that the recent switch of emphasis in the UK from rooftop solar (with elimination of FiTs) to solar farms is driven more by investment costs than ultimate carbon-intensity.
Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as quoted by Spirit Energy