The article plays loose with the facts. A modern solar panel doesn't leach toxins unless it's damaged. A panel's efficiency decreases with time and it's down by about 20% at around 25 years of daily exposure to bright sunlight. Although 20% decrease is considered "end of useful life" it isn't really because the panel will continue to produce electricity for many more years - it just won't be as efficient.

As for not producing electricity in the dark, that's a no-brainer. However, when it's dark on one side of the earth, it's light on the other. Consequently, a worldwide network of panels can still feed electricity into a grid continuously. Also, it's possible to store energy during daylight for providing electricity at night.

I'm not advocating for photovoltaic panels (although I use them at home). I'm simply stating that I couldn't/wouldn't use this particular article to prove anything.