Use Of Tellurium In Solar Panels

Cadmium telluride cdte solar panels as the second most common photovoltaic technology on the market behind traditional crystalline silicon cadmium telluride cdte panels are already a viable thin film solar panel solution.

Use of tellurium in solar panels.

Cadmium telluride solar cells the united states is the leader in cadmium telluride cdte photovoltaic pv manufacturing and nrel has been at the forefront of research and development in this area. On a lifecycle basis cdte pv has the smallest carbon footprint lowest water use and shortest energy payback time of any current photo voltai. Cadmium telluride is one of the second generation thin film solar cell technologies. Cadmium telluride photovoltaics describes a photovoltaic technology that is based on the use of cadmium telluride in a thin semiconductor layer designed to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity.

Human exposure to tellurium can lead to a garlic odor on the breath nausea and eventual respiratory problems. A layer of cadmium telluride just one thousandth of a millimetre thick will absorb around 90 of the light that hits it. Pv solar cells based on cdte represent the largest segment of commercial thin film module production worldwide. Cadmium telluride pv is the only thin film technology with lower costs than conventional solar cells made of crystalline silicon in multi kilowatt systems.

While some of today s solar cells use a blend of cadmium and tellurium to convert light into electricity adding the optimum amount of selenium in the right places could help increase efficiency. Cadmium telluride is a direct bandgap material with bandgap energy of about 1 45 defined ev which is well matched to the solar spectrum and nearly optimal for converting sunlight into electricity using a single junction. How do we use tellurium. A new report by the french environment and energy management agency ademe shows that rare earth minerals are not widely used in solar energy and battery storage technologies.

Of all the solar technologies cdte solar panels are the most. Tellurium or its toxic effect on humans and ecosystems. It s far better at absorbing light than silicon on which most solar power is currently based and as a result its absorbing layer doesn t need to be as thick.