A new report by the french environment and energy management agency reveals some surprises about the use of rare earth minerals in the renewable energy sector.
Rare earth solar panels.
For example a single tesla vehicle requires about 15 pounds or a bowling ball s worth of lithium and thin cheap solar panels need tellurium one of the rarest elements on earth.
Mining for rare metals is considered to be one of china s most polluting industries presenting potential disasters relating to contamination that threaten to cause a wide scale catastrophe.
By depleting earth of its resources solar energy is not sustainable as the components required are limited.
These compounds which are highly toxic when mined and processed also take a heavy environmental toll on soil and water.
With recycling expensive.
Are rare earths used in solar panels.
Rare metals are especially vital for renewable energy technologies such as electric cars and solar panels.
The rare earth consumption in the area of the generation of renewable energies is mainly due to the use of permanent magnets for offshore wind energy which are only used by a small part of the.
Thin cheap solar panels need tellurium which makes up a scant 0 0000001 percent of the earth s crust making it three times rarer than gold.
High performance batteries need lithium which is only easily extracted from briny pools in the andes.
Solar photovoltaics are made with a number of parts the most important of which are silicon cells silicon atomic number 14 on the periodic table is a nonmetal with conductive properties that give it the ability to convert sunlight into electricity.
Revision of solar panel production process.
More clean energy means more solar panels wind turbines electric vehicles and large scale batteries.
Mono vs poly vs thin film.
How are solar panels made.
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.
In 2011 the average price of rare earth metals shot up by as much as 750 percent.