2 ms·
I think he's a bit out of date. Some of the hi tech solar panels still use rare earths but since ~2014 they're more the kind of thing you'd put on a space stati
by pydry 4y ago
I think he's a bit out of date. Some of the hi tech solar panels still use rare earths but since ~2014 they're more the kind of thing you'd put on a space station not a roof.
The cheap, grid scale solar panels are all crystalline silicon.
- pfdietz 4y agoSolar panels never used rare earths.
- ncmncm 4y agoRight, the most exotic stuff in (some) solar cells is cadmium and tellurium. The cadmium is nasty but not hard to source, maybe 8 g/m^2. Perovskite cells use a thin film of mostly lead or tin, and maybe some bromine. They should be calling the neodymium and stuff sometimes used in wind turbines "lanthanides", instead, to avoid misleading people about their availability.