Arsenic In Solar Panel Manufacturing

Waste from solar panel production can contain high levels of soluble as 5 which fortunately is over 50 times less harmful than as 3.

Arsenic in solar panel manufacturing.

It is anything but safe when all factors are considered. Environmental scientists and solar industry leaders are raising the red flag about used solar panels which contain toxic heavy metals and are considered hazardous waste. Gaas is often used as a substrate material for the epitaxial. Gallium arsenide gaas it is a iii v direct band gap semiconductor with a zinc blende crystal structure.

Gallium arsenide is used in the manufacture of devices such as microwave frequency integrated circuits monolithic microwave integrated circuits infrared light emitting diodes laser diodes solar cells and optical windows. In 2011 hydrofluoric acid used by the company for solar panel manufacturing contaminated river water killing hundreds of fish and dozens of pigs. Arsenic cadmium telluride hexafluoroethane lead and polyvinyl fluoride are just some of the chemicals used to manufacture various types of solar cells. Most manufacturers recycle this waste to make more polysilicon.

Cost most of rec s solar pv systems are typically priced between 2 44 and 3 06 per watt which makes them a strong value in the market for home solar panels. Yet manufacturing all those solar panels a tuesday report shows can have environmental. None of this poses much if any threat. There are two principle types of arsenic as 3 and as 5.

Concentrator photovoltaics gather and focus sunlight onto small high efficiency solar cells made of gallium arsenide or germanium semiconductors. 1 24 the electronics industry uses 5 of the arsenic produced to make gallium arsenic semiconductors for use in cell phones solar panels and light emitting diodes leds and the remaining 15 is used in glassmaking and to harden metal alloys in ammunition solders and bearings. With recycling expensive. They re on track to achieve efficiency rates of.

Here is a partial list eight of fifty of chemicals associated with solar photovoltaic pv manufacturing and disposal.