Cadmium Telluride Thin Film Solar Panels
Cadmium telluride cdte photovoltaics or also called cadmium telluride solar cell is a kind of photovoltaic pv technology that can produce electricity from sunlight using a thin film of compound cadmium telluride to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity.
Cadmium telluride thin film solar panels. Cigs is another mainstream thin film technology. Solar photovoltaic technology that is based on cadmium is considered as a thin film technology due to its active layers which are just a few microns thick or about a 10 diameter of human hair. One main energy producing layer made from the compound cadmium telluride and surrounding layers for electricity conduction and collection. This structure is similar to the heterojunction in cigs cells.
Cadmium telluride cdte is the most common type of thin film solar cell in production. Copper indium gallium selenide cigs. Cadmium telluride pv is the only thin film technology with lower costs than conventional solar cells made of crystalline silicon in multi kilowatt systems. The company solyndra now.
On a lifecycle basis cdte pv has the smallest carbon footprint lowest water use and shortest energy payback time of any current photo voltai. Cdte thin film panels are made from several thin layers. Thin film solar panels and toxicity cadmium telluride. As with most thin film solar technologies carrier collection is accomplished by drift or field assisted.
Cadmium telluride photovoltaics describes a photovoltaic technology that is based on the use of cadmium telluride in a thin semiconductor layer designed to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity. First solar is an american company that works in the cadmium telluride solar panel manufacturing space.