Sustainability of photovoltaics: The case for thin-film solar cells

Sustainability metrics for extending thin-film photovoltaics to terawatt levels

“…At US$200/kg, the tellurium currently used in CdTe modules is ∼ US$0.03/W p ; it will fall to US$0.01/W p when the module effi ciency increases to 13.2% and the thickness of the CdTe layer drops to 1.5 μ m. Thus, tellurium prices up to 5-10 times higher than current levels might not affect the goal for module production of US$0.50-0.70/W p . 2 Several scenarios are suitable for assessing the future availability of tellurium. All are related to projected copper production because, with very few exceptions, the quantities and prices of the minor metals do not warrant the extraction and processing of ores without the simultaneous recovery of copper.…”

“…2 These estimates assume 80% extraction recoveries and use of only 50% of the growth in the supply of indium for CIGS photovoltaics, as well as improvements in module effi ciency and material requirements, as shown in Table I . Note that the estimates for midcentury and beyond are based on the presumption that the growth of zinc extraction will follow that of copper; this is questionable because the depletion time of zinc might be shorter than that of copper.…”

Luminescence of Cu2ZnSnS4 polycrystals described by the fluctuating potential model

“…3,4 To enable greater deployment of terrestrial PV at the TW level will require: (1) continued, and significant, cost reduction of PV modules; and (2) the ability to manufacture PV devices from sustainable materials. 5 These factors and recognition of the importance of environmental factors including cost and availability of metals and toxicity of PV component elements 6,7 have all led to a significant focus on new sustainable materials for PV devices. Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) is recognized as a material system which has the potential to make a substantial contribution to PV generation at a cost that will address the issues discussed above.…”

Criticality Research in the Materials Community

“…3,4 For example, the most recent Department of Defense Strategic and Critical Materials report per the Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Act uses material consumption, production, and projected future demand to determine the severity of material criticality. Similarly, in previous literature 1,[5][6][7][8][9] the material availability is determined primarily by physical scarcity. Scarcity research calculates static metrics, such as depletion time (a measure of how long known reserves will last, given current levels of extraction); although it is informative and useful, it can provide only limited resolution of the real and complex issues at hand.…”