Exotic Materials In Solar Panels

Copper you can find copper in various components of a solar panel.

Exotic materials in solar panels.

The average lifespan of a solar panel is about 20 years but high temperatures as in the mojave desert can accelerate the aging process for solar cells and snow dust and other natural events tornadoes earthquakes can cause material fatigue on the surface and in the internal electric circuits gradually reducing the panel s power. A new way to make the most efficient and powerful types of solar cells could help solar power compete with fossil fuels. Pure silicon is crystalline a structure necessary for photovoltaic cells. Hydrogen is then used to reduce this gas to silane gas which is in turn heated to make molten silicon.

Exotic highly efficient solar cells may soon get cheaper. It can be used in everything from wires including. They are lean and bendable unlike a standard panel. The materials we use are in principle extremely inexpensive says stephen forrest who leads an optoelectronics research group at the university of michigan in ann arbor mi.

Finally amorphous silicon cells create flexible solar panel materials that are often used in thin film solar panels. Organic molecules such as polymers and dyes synthesized in bulk from simple ingredients can form the light absorbing layer in a pv cell. These include the following. Thin cheap solar panels need tellurium which makes up a scant 0 0000001 percent of the earth s crust making it three times rarer than gold.

Plastic plastic is a common. Glass widely used in the design of solar panels glass can be found above conventional silicon solar cells. However if you re installing thin film technology there are additional toxic materials contained in the thin film panels itself such as cadmium telluride and copper indium selenide. High performance batteries need lithium which is only easily extracted from briny pools in the andes.

Amorphous silicon cells are non crystalline and instead are attached to a substrate like glass plastic or metal. The metallurgical grade silicon is exposed to hydrochloric acid and copper which produce trichlorosilane gas.