Environmental Question #30 [Sustainable Electrical Components]

Any ideas for a fungible potting material which protects the interior electrical components of a PV microinverter?

Courtesy of Reddit user u/milosh_the_spicy

Q: Any ideas for a fungible potting material which protects the interior electrical components of a PV microinverter? Any people or labs you can identify with real-world practical applications of sustainable materials to use in electronics manufacturing?

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A:  I have actually worked on a few improved sustainability products for the electronics industry myself. The emphasis here though is on "improved sustainability." As I'm sure you know, electronics manufacturing requires very specific performance out of every material that gets used, and those materials usually also need to be extremely pure to avoid contamination. This makes for quite a design challenge for any materials scientist, sustainable or otherwise, so sustainable solutions in the electronics manufacturing space today focus mostly on small incremental improvements rather than sweeping changes. This is definitely a field that needs additional attention, but generally it is considered a low priority because even though the electronics industry produces a massive amount of waste, that amount is dwarfed by the waste produced by industries like packaging, construction, and clothing.