[lowtechmagazine]

Agreed that it's a one-time step decrease, and that the progress continues. But, why 2020? The panels that have powered the server were bought between 2015 and 2019, and who knows how long they had been in storage before I bought them.

You take the solar panel that just comes out of the factory as a reference, but I could just as well argue that the reference should be the age of the average solar panel installed in the world.

Also, let's wait and see how the move to China affects the quality and life expectancy of solar panels. And what it means for other forms of pollution. I focused on energy use but there are other environmental concerns with the production of solar panels.

I will be happy to update the calculations in the future if more and better data are available.