The US Department of Energy examined the availability of indium, gallium, and tellurium based on current and future production needs, and finally discovered the cause of this concern. The report and some market analysts at the time all stated that indium and germanium are extremely vulnerable to supply shortages and price fluctuations.
Now, the US Department of Energy has released the latest version of the "Key Materials Strategy", in which concerns about the supply of thin film photovoltaic materials have not eased. The Ministry of Energy stated that although the general supply and demand conditions for indium, gallium, and tellurium are "slightly improved," they cannot be completely reassuring. These three metals (along with é’• and é•), metals known for clean energy materials, are facing “a huge risk of bottlenecks in the supply chain over the next 20 years.â€
The report believes that this slight improvement is mainly due to the market's declining demand for these three thin film materials: Although the photovoltaic market deployment is expected to increase, the demand for materials per PV module is expected to decrease.
For copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic modules, manufacturers are changing their material composition, increasing the proportion of niobium, while reducing the proportion of indium. The US Department of Energy stated that the result of this is "a partial trade-off between the potential supply risks of these two elements." At the same time, the Department of Energy conducted new calculations. Assuming that the expected demand for indium and gallium is reduced, the market share of CIGS will also decline.
The report shows that at present, the cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film component accounts for about 10% of the photovoltaic market. The fall in silicon prices may also pose a threat. However, the increasing demand from high-priced antimony and cadmium telluride producers and the competition for the supply of materials by non-photovoltaic companies that need to be embarrassed make the metal supply facing It is a very distressing situation.
The Department of Energy said in the report: "The price of helium is particularly critical for cadmium telluride solar cell manufacturers. Photovoltaic companies are trying to reduce the use of this metal material, and continue to increase the recycling of new waste in order to reduce their The dependence of this major material."
Despite sufficient performance in the short-term supply, the increase in production capacity in the future may not be enough to supply cadmium telluride producers and other manufacturing companies that need to use helium. In part of the report, the supply of cesium needs to be 50% more than the total budget for 2015 to meet the expected demand.
The use of indium and gallium by non-photovoltaic manufacturing companies is also becoming more common, such as semiconductor applications, flat panel displays, and coatings for smartphones and tablets. The Department of Energy predicts that unless the capacity of both indium and gallium increases, or if non-photovoltaic companies reduce their demand, there will be a shortage of supply of these two materials by 2015.
Among them, the Ministry of Energy has adjusted the forecast for future usage of cesium based on the expected production improvement of copper indium gallium selenide producers. The results show that the supply of helium in the future is even more worrying.
The Department of Energy explained that its higher estimate of the demand for plutonium is largely based on the assumption that plutonium is increasingly replacing indium in the composition of copper indium gallium selenide. This change means that in other aspects of PV manufacturing, benefits can be achieved by reducing the material concentration, such as reducing cell thickness and increasing processing efficiency.
In general, the Department of Energy evaluated the importance of indium, gallium, and tellurium for clean energy and short-term and medium-term supply risks. All three metals are moderately graded (rated from 1 to 4). It is 2 or 3 points.)
The disruption of the supply chain will threaten the production of photovoltaics and the deployment of photovoltaic modules and other types of clean energy. In order to help mitigate possible supply disruptions, the Department of Energy has developed a three-pronged approach.
First of all, the Department of Energy highlighted in its report that “global supply chain diversification is crucial. To control supply risks, we need multiple sources of materials. This means that we must take steps to promote the United States to extract, process and manufacture various materials. At the same time, other countries should also be encouraged to accelerate the supply of alternative energy.
Second, we must develop alternatives for materials that are in short supply. For the photovoltaic industry, a DOE research program will focus on the development of membrane formulations such as copper zinc tin and selenium sulfide, and another initiative will be applied to the use of earth-reserve-rich materials such as zinc, sulfur and copper. Photovoltaic ink research and development provides funding. The Department of Energy stated in its report that "a few projects have also managed to develop prototype solar cells using pyrite, known as the gold of the fools, which is a non-toxic, inexpensive, and most abundant sulfide mineral."
Finally, it is necessary to continuously improve the recovery and reuse mechanisms so as to reduce the demand for new materials. These strategies can also increase the sustainability of the production process.
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