Because the energy density is extremely low compared to ex nuclear. And that it's not just about land use it's also about rare earth materials, the actual production of that many, the installation and maintanance plus no plans for decommision and it still needs ex coal to back it up because it's unrealiable.
Yes, it is wrong. Rare earth elements are not used in solar panels.
Understand, there's been this obnoxious effort by anti-renewable propagandists to spread the lie that PV is dirty because of rare earths. Shellenberger was spreading this falsehood. But it has no basis in reality.
Vice is just mistaken, not lying. I will charitably assume the same is true of you.
Are you REALLY asking me to prove a negative? Tell me, what purpose do you imagine rare earths serve in silicon PV cells? They are not used as dopants (that's boron and phosphorus). There are no magnets. The glass doesn't require them, nor do the structural metals.
