Why Is Tellurium Used In Solar Panels

Cadmium telluride solar modules now account for around 5 of global installations and depending on how you do the sums can produce lower cost power than silicon solar.

Why is tellurium used in solar panels.

Tellurium s primary use is for manufac turing films essential to photovoltaic solar. 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. Tellurium te is an extremely rare element 1 5 parts per billion in the earth s crust. Pv solar cells based on cdte represent the largest segment of commercial thin film module production worldwide.

Tellurium or its toxic effect on humans and ecosystems. How do we use tellurium. While cadmium is relatively abundant tellurium is not. When alloyed with other elements.

Tellurium alloyed with cadmium forms the compound cadmium telluride cdte a highly conductive compound when exposed to sunlight. Cadmium telluride solar cells. Human exposure to tellurium can lead to a garlic odor on the breath nausea and eventual respiratory problems. 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.