Are there any environmental and social costs associated with solar energy?
No yes or no answers please.
Of course it takes energy to make solar collectors, to smelt the steel, or refine the aluminum, glass, silicon, whatever. But as far as net environmental cost, I’d say the cost is negative, as the collectors return more in energy than it cost to make them.
The social costs depend on the local culture. Some communities find them ugly. I find them beautiful. If you’re the only house in the neighborhood with panels, it might flag you as a showoff, or rich, or the panels might be a target for thieves. Other social costs are hard to quantify. Less smoking means less jobs for tobacco workers, but also means healthier people. Similarly, if the air or water is incrementally cleaner because of solar energy, that might have a positive or negative social cost.