Cadmium Rise Solar Panel

The picture is not all rosy but if the recent past is any.

Cadmium rise solar panel.

You can read our article on solar panels and hail damage to learn more about strength testing. 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 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. Cadmium fumes may cause flu like symptoms and more severe respiratory problems.

What is cdte and why should i care. It could be the future of solar. One main energy producing layer made from the compound cadmium telluride and surrounding layers for electricity conduction and collection. Solar panels generate 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than nuclear power plants.

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. In this video i will explain what cadmium telluride or cdte solar panels are all abou. Cdte thin film panels are made from several thin layers. Approximately 90 of most pv modules are made up of glass.

Solar panels often contain lead cadmium and other toxic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. The debate over the toxic potential of thin film solar panels based on cadmium compounds has been reignited. Conventional solar cells are made by cutting wafers from a block of. You can see the evidence on rooftops and in the desert where utility scale solar plants are popping up.

Worse rainwater can wash many of these toxics out of the fragments of solar modules over time. Cadmium telluride cdte is a commonly used material in thin film solar modules. Cadmium telluride pv is the only thin film technology with lower costs than conventional solar cells made of crystalline silicon in multi kilowatt systems. Cadmium is a heavy metal and extremely dangerous.

The fact that cadmium can be washed out of solar modules by rainwater is increasingly a concern for local environmentalists like the concerned citizens of fawn lake in virginia where a 6 350 acre solar farm to partly power microsoft data centers is being proposed. Cadmium is a particular toxic waste problem. Even though the common type of solar panel is non toxic there is a type of solar cell that can contain toxic materials. 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.