Rare Earth Minerals Solar Panels

Wind turbines increasingly dot the american landscape rising hundreds of feet in the air to capture electricity from the movement of the wind.

Rare earth minerals solar panels.

Currently marketed photovoltaic solar technologies do not use rare earths. Aluminum and rare earth elements. However a lack of rare earths does not mean that the components of solar modules are harmless. Typical wind turbine and major components aluminum.

Experts have found that the rare metals required to build solar panels such as indium and tellurium are not in sufficient supply to keep up with demand. Just like solar cells wind turbines also rely on a few mineral commodities that have been designated as critical. Thin film pv technologies for example contain potentially critical metals such as tellurium. This means that global production of several rare earth minerals used.

To meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets under the paris agreement renewable energy production has to scale up fast.