• Are classified as "waste for recovery" and non-hazardous in accordance with the German Waste Code, European Waste Legislation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards,
  
  
• Do not release cadmium in a vapor form from normal building fires and do not release cadmium from the module even under the most extreme fire-induced temperatures, and
  
  
• Constitute one of the safest manners of deploying cadmium mining waste, preferred over sequestration or use on other commercial products.

First Solar modules produce solar electricity for 25+ years, reducing toxic emissions from fossil fuel generation.

This chart represents the energy mix from the German state of Thüringen and a typical California utility. Both use a mix of fossil fuels (ranging between 58% and 84%) for electricity generation. Replacing the energy generated from fossil fuels reduces harmful emissions.

Sources:

• Thüringer Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Infrastruktur - Energiedaten Thüringen 2000
• EPA Power Profiler & EPA eGRID database