Implications for CdTe and CIGS technologies production costs of indium and tellurium scarcity

Candelise, Chiara; Winskel, Mark; Groß, Robert

doi:10.1002/pip.2216

Cited by 159 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Te: tα high, ρα, w αβ [13]; ηα high, ηα low [16]; tα medium, tα low, U αβ high, U αβ low, yα high, yα medium [17]; ηα medium [18]; U αβ medium [19]; yα low [20].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth in metals production for rapid photovoltaics deployment

Kavlak

McNerney

Jaffe

et al. 2014

2014 IEEE 40th Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC)

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Abstract-If global photovoltaics (PV) deployment grows rapidly, the required input materials need to be supplied at an increasing rate. We quantify the effect of PV deployment levels on the scale of annual metals production. If a thin-film PV technology accounts for 25% of electricity generation in 2030, the annual production of thin-film PV metals would need to grow at rates of 15-30% per year. These rates exceed those observed historically for a wide range of metals. In contrast, for the same level of crystalline silicon PV deployment, the required silicon production growth rate falls within the historical range.Index Terms-gallium, indium, photovoltaics, thin-film photovoltaics, tellurium. These energy scenarios project future PV deployment levels based on varied assumptions about the determinants of energy demand and the technology outlook. Other studies have explored the extent of PV deployment that is possible under certain metal constraints such as annual metal production levels or reserves [11]-[13]. These studies have also considered the potential for decreasing the material intensity of PV technologies. I. INTRODUCTIONIn this paper, we provide a new perspective by putting the projected PV metal requirements into a historical context. We focus on the changes in metals production over time rather than the absolute amounts. Our motivating question is whether metals production can be scaled up at a pace that matches the rapidly increasing PV deployment levels put forward in aggressive low-carbon energy scenarios.We explore the required growth rates of metals production for PV installations to reach the levels projected in a range of published energy scenarios. We focus on the elements used in the absorber layer of the major PV technologies in production today: silicon for crystalline silicon (c-Si), tellurium for cadmium telluride (CdTe), and indium, gallium and selenium for copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). (Future work may focus on additional PV technologies.) To

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“…Te: tα high, ρα, w αβ [13]; ηα high, ηα low [16]; tα medium, tα low, U αβ high, U αβ low, yα high, yα medium [17]; ηα medium [18]; U αβ medium [19]; yα low [20].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth in metals production for rapid photovoltaics deployment

Kavlak

McNerney

Jaffe

et al. 2014

2014 IEEE 40th Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC)

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“…CZTSSe is closely related to the higher efficiency material Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS). The relative scarcity of Ga and In is, however problematic if a high annual production volume is to be obtained [1]. In order to solve this issue materials without In and Ga are required and CZTSSe that only contains earth abundant elements is therefore an interesting alternative.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface modification through air annealing Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 absorbers

et al. 2017

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“…The comparison of the current and prospective environmental impacts of photovoltaic electricity produced by the different solar cell types including future scenarios for the most crucial parameters, shown in Figure [50] report the use of scarce indium as a potential barrier for thin film photovoltaics like CIGS due to indium supply constraints. Arvidsson et al [51] highlight the environmental impacts of the use of indium as a scarce resource in liquid crystal displays, which are used in electronic devices like phones, tablets, computers, and televisions.…”

Section: Prospective Life Cycle Environmental Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly Efficient 3rd Generation Multi-Junction Solar Cells Using Silicon Heterojunction and Perovskite Tandem: Prospective Life Cycle Environmental Impacts

Itten

Stucki

2017

Energies

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Abstract:In this study, the environmental impacts of monolithic silicon heterojunction organometallic perovskite tandem cells (SHJ-PSC) and single junction organometallic perovskite solar cells (PSC) are compared with the impacts of crystalline silicon based solar cells using a prospective life cycle assessment with a time horizon of 2025. This approach provides a result range depending on key parameters like efficiency, wafer thickness, kerf loss, lifetime, and degradation, which are appropriate for the comparison of these different solar cell types with different maturity levels. The life cycle environmental impacts of SHJ-PSC and PSC solar cells are similar or lower compared to conventional crystalline silicon solar cells, given comparable lifetimes, with the exception of mineral and fossil resource depletion. A PSC single-junction cell with 20% efficiency has to exceed a lifetime of 24 years with less than 3% degradation per year in order to be competitive with the crystalline silicon single-junction cells. If the installed PV capacity has to be maximised with only limited surface area available, the SHJ-PSC tandem is preferable to the PSC single-junction because their environmental impacts are similar, but the surface area requirement of SHJ-PSC tandems is only 70% or lower compared to PSC single-junction cells. The SHJ-PSC and PSC cells have to be embedded in proper encapsulation to maximise the stability of the PSC layer as well as handled and disposed of correctly to minimise the potential toxicity impacts of the heavy metals used in the PSC layer.

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Implications for CdTe and CIGS technologies production costs of indium and tellurium scarcity

Cited by 159 publications

References 31 publications

Growth in metals production for rapid photovoltaics deployment

Growth in metals production for rapid photovoltaics deployment

Surface modification through air annealing Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 absorbers

Highly Efficient 3rd Generation Multi-Junction Solar Cells Using Silicon Heterojunction and Perovskite Tandem: Prospective Life Cycle Environmental Impacts

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