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Nontoxic and fully recyclable
Sillicon is the second most abundant element on earth. It’s the main component of solar cells.
Enlarge ImageThe sillicon used for the production of solar cells is toxically completely harmless. It’s the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust. Also new technologies, such as the cadmium-telluride solar cells or the copper-indium-biselenious solar cells, don’t hold any high environmental risks compared to other forms of energy supply.
To use the sillicon for solar cells, it must first be purified and then doped with foreign atoms. A large part of the demand of pure sillicon is covered by waste of the chip-industry. By the enormous growth of the solar market, the demand for pure sillicon exceeds the present offer. Meanwhile there are several factories in construction for sillicon, especially for the solar industry. The first ones will be opened in 2007.
The environmental impact and the safety risk of solar cells are infinitesimally small compared to conventional sources of energy like coal, oil, gas or atomic energy. With the latter, the danger is global (emission of carbon-dioxide) and longterm (for example the problems of disposal of nuclear energy). This is regarding regular operation already. If we think about solar panels running for 30 years that don’t produce any pollutants, the environmental damage is obviously kept very limited.
The process of production for solar cells is well developed and tested. From the chemical and toxin point of view, even a mass-production of solar cells will not implicate any significant environmental or health problems.
For the recycling of sillicon solar cells different methods were developed. The main problem at the time is the disassembly of solar cells into their consisting parts. Because the solar module doesn’t contain any toxic parts there isn’t going to be any harmful waste either. With an adequate technique of production photovoltaic systems can be recycled completely. Glass and sillicon can be recycled easily. A little more problematic is the disassembly of the composited modules which contain synthetics as well. BP Solar is testing with good results the recycling of solar cells out of modules by dissolving them chemically. Besides saving energy, a definite reduction of costs by recycling the solar cells can be reached. In the future solar modules will be constructed to make a full substantial recycling possible. If a solar system is disused, you can recycle all materials. The solar cells must be “refreshed“ and can be used with the same glass again, for a second period of operation. In particular the recycling process shows a positive balance of energy, so even if the sillicon – depending on the method – can’t be used for solar cells, but has to be used in other branches of the metal industry, the energy-input for the recycling is lower than the one for new sillicon.
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To use the sillicon for solar cells, it must first be purified and then doped with foreign atoms. A large part of the demand of pure sillicon is covered by waste of the chip-industry. By the enormous growth of the solar market, the demand for pure sillicon exceeds the present offer. Meanwhile there are several factories in construction for sillicon, especially for the solar industry. The first ones will be opened in 2007.
The environmental impact and the safety risk of solar cells are infinitesimally small compared to conventional sources of energy like coal, oil, gas or atomic energy. With the latter, the danger is global (emission of carbon-dioxide) and longterm (for example the problems of disposal of nuclear energy). This is regarding regular operation already. If we think about solar panels running for 30 years that don’t produce any pollutants, the environmental damage is obviously kept very limited.
The process of production for solar cells is well developed and tested. From the chemical and toxin point of view, even a mass-production of solar cells will not implicate any significant environmental or health problems.
For the recycling of sillicon solar cells different methods were developed. The main problem at the time is the disassembly of solar cells into their consisting parts. Because the solar module doesn’t contain any toxic parts there isn’t going to be any harmful waste either. With an adequate technique of production photovoltaic systems can be recycled completely. Glass and sillicon can be recycled easily. A little more problematic is the disassembly of the composited modules which contain synthetics as well. BP Solar is testing with good results the recycling of solar cells out of modules by dissolving them chemically. Besides saving energy, a definite reduction of costs by recycling the solar cells can be reached. In the future solar modules will be constructed to make a full substantial recycling possible. If a solar system is disused, you can recycle all materials. The solar cells must be “refreshed“ and can be used with the same glass again, for a second period of operation. In particular the recycling process shows a positive balance of energy, so even if the sillicon – depending on the method – can’t be used for solar cells, but has to be used in other branches of the metal industry, the energy-input for the recycling is lower than the one for new sillicon.
Read More