From Materials to Ecosystems: Contamination and Ecological Impacts of Renewable Energy Technologies

Photovoltaic (PV) modules are essential to the global transition toward low-carbon energy. Although PV electricity generally has lower operational emissions than fossil-fuel-based power generation, module production, use, damage, and end-of-life treatment may create environmental contamination risks. Mining and processing of raw materials, cell and module manufacturing, outdoor weathering, accidental breakage, fire, and inappropriate disposal can contribute to the release of heavy metals, metalloids, polymer additives, and particulate residues. Large-scale ground-mounted and floating PV installations may also modify land cover, soil properties, hydrological processes, microclimates, habitat connectivity, and aquatic environments. Existing studies have largely focused on energy use, carbon footprints, or short-term leaching tests, while evidence concerning chronic low-dose exposure, contaminant mixtures, emerging module materials, and ecosystem-level responses remains fragmented. Integrated research is therefore needed to connect module materials and degradation processes with contaminant transport and ecological effects.This Research Topic aims to advance a comprehensive understanding of environmental contamination associated with PV modules and its consequences for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Particular emphasis will be placed on source–pathway–receptor relationships across the entire life cycle, from raw-material extraction and manufacturing to operation, damage, decommissioning, recycling, and waste management. Contributions should examine how module composition, encapsulation, aging, climate, extreme weather, fire, and treatment conditions affect the release, transformation, mobility, bioavailability, and toxicity of contaminants. Studies that distinguish potential risks from intact and properly managed modules from those associated with damaged modules or poorly controlled waste streams are especially encouraged. The Topic also seeks to promote improved life cycle assessment, field monitoring, exposure modelling, ecotoxicological testing, and ecological risk assessment. Ultimately, it will support safer material selection, pollution prevention, nature-sensitive deployment, responsible recycling, and circular-economy strategies that reduce environmental burdens while retaining the climate benefits of solar energy.This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, reviews, perspectives, and case studies. All contributions must report at least one measured or modelled environmental endpoint: contaminant release, environmental concentration, exposure, bioavailability, or toxicity. Studies of module materials, devices, or device performance that do not report such an endpoint are outside the scope of this Research Topic. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:• Contamination sources and material characterization: heavy metal leaching; emissions and effluents from manufacturing; degradation, weathering, breakage, and fire impacts; release of polymer fragments, additives, microplastics, and other residues from crystalline-silicon, thin-film, perovskite, tandem, and emerging PV modules. Material characterization should be linked to a quantified release or exposure pathway.• Environmental fate and ecological impacts: contaminant transport, transformation, and bioavailability in soil, sediment, surface water, groundwater, and biota; ecotoxicity, bioaccumulation, food-web transfer, microbiome responses, biodiversity effects, and habitat changes associated with ground-mounted, agrivoltaic, and floating PV systems.• Assessment, prevention, and circular management: life cycle assessment; exposure modelling and ecological risk assessment; analytical and sensing methods validated on environmental matrices or real module leachates; safer module design and encapsulation evaluated against measured contaminant release; pollution prevention; repair, reuse, recycling, and waste treatment; ecological restoration; and policies, standards, and governance for environmentally responsible PV deployment. Topic editors: Renyuan Li, Rongrong Ma, Raid Alrowais Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86393/from-materials-to-ecosystems-contamination-and-ecological-impacts-of-renewable-energy-technologies