Can tofu ingredient make solar cells cheaper?
Cadmium chloride is currently a key ingredient in solar cell technology used in millions of solar panels around the world. The soluble compound is toxic and expensive to produce which calls for elaborate safety measures to protect workers during manufacture and then specialist disposal when panels are no longer needed.
Now, a University of Liverpool researcher has found that cadmium chloride can be replaced with magnesium chloride, which is extracted from seawater and is already used in products such as tofu, bath salts and for de-icing roads. The study which is published in the journal Nature reveals that magnesium chloride which is safe to use can be as effective as the toxic cadmium chloride. The study also shows that magnesium chloride costs a fraction of cadmium chloride – $0.001 per gram compared to $0.3.
“If renewable energy is going to compete with fossil fuels, then the cost has to come down. Great strides have already been made, but the findings in this paper have the potential to reduce costs further,” explained Dr Jon Major, a physicist from the University of Liverpool’s Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy who carried out the research.
The cheapest solar cells being manufactured today are based on a thin film of insoluble cadmium telluride. Alone, these cells convert less than two percent of sunlight into energy. By applying cadmium chloride to them, this efficiency increases to over 15 percent but now the University of Liverpool researchers have shown that magnesium chloride can achieve the same boost to efficiency.
Dr Major said: “We have to apply cadmium chloride in a fume cupboard in the lab, but we created solar cells using the new method on a bench with a spray gun bought from a model shop".
“Cadmium chloride is toxic and expensive and we no longer need to use it. Replacing it with a naturally occurring substance could save the industry a vast amount of money and reduce the overall cost for generating power from solar.”
The study was funded under a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the University of Liverpool.
Related articles and links:
www.liv.ac.uk
News articles:
One step black silicon process boosts solar-cell efficiencies
Can rust really revolutionize solar cell technology?
Nanoparticle production method promises better LEDs and photovoltaics
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
