Amorphous- and nanocrystalline-silicon thin-film photovoltaic modules are made in high-throughput manufacturing lines that necessitate quickly cleaning the reactor. Using NF₃, a potent greenhouse gas, as the cleaning agent triggered concerns as recent reports reveal that the atmospheric concentrations of this gas have increased significantly. We quantified the life-cycle emissions of NF₃ in photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing, on the basis of actual measurements at the facilities of a major producer of NF₃ and of a manufacturer of PV end-use equipment. From these, we defined the best practices and technologies that are the most likely to keep worldwide atmospheric concentrations of NF₃ at very low radiative forcing levels. For the average U.S. insolation and electricity-grid conditions, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from manufacturing and using NF₃ in current PV a-Si and tandem a-Si/nc-Si facilities add 2 and 7 g CO₂(eq)/kWh, which can be displaced within the first 1-4 months of the PV system life.

A method has been developed for determining trace quantifies of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in aqueous solutions using isotope dilution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The method consisted of first reducing DMSO to dimethyl sulfide (DMS), followed by purge and trap preconcentration of DMS. The concentration of DMSO was determined from the signal ratio obtained for the parent ions of DMS and d~-DMS, and the known aqueous concentration of d,-DMSO. The precision of this method was determined to be + 2.9 %, based on replicate DMSO determinations of a test solution prepared by adding isotopically unenriched (I~-DMSO) to distilled water. The detection limit was 0.010 nmoles/L for the sampling conditions used in this study. This method was applied to the determination of DMSO concentrations in both rain and sea water. The concentration of DMSO in rain was found to be in the range of 2 -4 nmoles/L for samples collected at an inland location (Phila, PA) and 8 -11 nmoles/L for samples collected at a coastal location (Lewes, DE). Determination of DMSO in seawater required special sample preparation steps to eliminate positive interferences. A depth profile of DMS, DMSO, and dimethyl sulfoniopropionate (DMSP) concentrations is reported for sea water collected off the coast of Ocean City, Md, in August, 1990

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Stable isotopic dilutionwas applied to the determination of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in ambient air at the low part-per-trillion by volume (pptrv) levels. Perdeuterated DMS was used as an internal standard in the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry determination.The isotopically labelled internal standard provided insensitivity to possible losses of DMS in sampling and analysis. The lower limit of detection (LLD) was 1 pptrv with a sample acquisition time of 2 min.

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