Design considerations for multi-terawatt scale manufacturing of existing and future photovoltaic technologies: challenges and opportunities related to silver, indium and bismuth consumption

• Published in: Energy & environmental science Vol. 14; no. 11; pp. 5587 - 561
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yuchao, Kim, Moonyong, Wang, Li, Verlinden, Pierre, Hallam, Brett
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 10.11.2021
• Subjects: Bismuth; Climate change; Consumption; Copper plating; Emitters; Environmental impact; Heavy metals; Heterojunctions; Indium; Industrial applications; Low temperature; Manufacturing; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaics; Production capacity; Screen printing; Silver; Solar cells; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Sustainable production

To significantly impact climate change, the annual photovoltaic (PV) module production rate must dramatically increase from ∼135 gigawatts (GW) in 2020 to ∼3 terawatts (TW) around 2030. A key knowledge gap is the sustainable manufacturing capacity of existing and future commercial PV cell technologi...