A Washington State University team has developed a more efficient, safer, and cost-effective way to produce cadmium telluride (CdTe) material for solar cells or other applications, a discovery that could advance the solar industry and make it more competitive.
A Washington State University team has developed a more efficient, safer, and cost-effective way to produce cadmium telluride (CdTe) material for solar cells or other applications, a discovery that could advance the solar industry and make it more competitive.
The researchers showed they could rapidly grow a large amount of high-purity CdTe material — a more than kilogram-sized crystal in one day — which would be considered lightning fast in the industry. The technique, which uses a high-pressure furnace to produce large amounts of the needed crystal feedstock material, is 45 % more cost effective than the industry standard and is scalable, which could make CdTe solar technology less expensive than natural gas. The crystal material produced also has better electrical properties than what is currently available.
Working in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and industry partner Nious Technologies, Inc., the researchers report on their work in the Journal of Crystal Growth.
Read more at Washington State University
Photo: A sample crystal of cadmium telluride material that can be used to make solar cells. CREDIT: Washington State University
