Cadmium Solar Panels

According to cancer biologist david h.

Cadmium solar panels.

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 is a heavy metal and extremely dangerous. Workers may be exposed during smelting and refining of metals and manufacturing batteries plastics coatings and solar panels. Nguyen phd toxic chemicals in solar panels include cadmium telluride copper indium selenide cadmium gallium di selenide copper indium gallium di selenide hexafluoroethane lead and polyvinyl fluoride.

The company solyndra now. The debate over the toxic potential of thin film solar panels based on cadmium compounds has been reignited. Solar panels generate 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than nuclear power plants. Cigs is another mainstream thin film technology.

Copper indium gallium selenide cigs. Cadmium telluride solar cells use low cost manufacturing technology to produce low cost cells. 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 telluride cdte photovoltaics or also called cadmium telluride solar cell is a kind of photovoltaic pv technology that can produce electricity from sunlight using a thin film of compound cadmium telluride to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity.

Cadmium telluride pv is the only thin film technology with lower costs than conventional solar cells made of crystalline silicon in multi kilowatt systems. Cdte thin film panels are made from several thin layers. Cadmium fumes may cause flu like symptoms and more severe respiratory problems. One main energy producing layer made from the compound cadmium telluride and surrounding layers for electricity conduction and collection.

Worker exposure to cadmium can occur in all industry sectors but mostly in manufacturing and construction. Thin film solar panels and toxicity cadmium telluride. Solar panels often contain lead cadmium and other toxic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. Cadmium telluride cdte is the most common type of thin film solar cell in production.

Approximately 90 of most pv modules are made up of glass. Silicon tetrachloride a byproduct of producing crystalline silicon is also highly toxic. They also contain lead cadmium and other toxic even carcinogenic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. 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.

The most common cdte solar cells consist of a simple p n heterojunction structure containing a p doped cdte layer matched with an n doped cadmium sulfide cds layer which acts as a window layer.