Why Is Tellurium Used In Solar Panels

Pv solar cells based on cdte represent the largest segment of commercial thin film module production worldwide.

Why is tellurium used in solar panels.

But cadmium telluride s achilles heel is the tellurium itself one of the rarest metals in the earth s crust. Cadmium telluride solar cells. Cadmium telluride solar panels currently achieve an efficiency of 10 6 which is significantly lower than the typical efficiencies of silicon solar cells. Tellurium or its toxic effect on humans and ecosystems.

When alloyed with other elements. Human exposure to tellurium can lead to a garlic odor on the breath nausea and eventual respiratory problems. Tellurium te is an extremely rare element 1 5 parts per billion in the earth s crust. Tellurium s primary use is for manufac turing films essential to photovoltaic solar.

Tellurium alloyed with cadmium forms the compound cadmium telluride cdte a highly conductive compound when exposed to sunlight. How do we use tellurium. While cadmium is relatively abundant tellurium is not. Cadmium telluride cdte photovoltaics describes a photovoltaic pv technology that is based on the use of cadmium telluride in a thin semiconductor layer designed to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity.