Why it matters to materials
Crystalline silicon dominates, so solar demand is really demand for purified silicon, silver paste, aluminium frames and glass. The thin-film alternative substitutes tellurium or indium for most of that.
What it is made of
All materials →| Material | What it does here | Importance |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminium critical | Frames and mounting | Defining |
| Copper critical | Ribbon, wiring and inverters | Defining |
| Silicon critical | The cell itself | Defining |
| Silver critical | Front-contact conductive paste | Defining |
| Soda Ash | Cover glass | Important |
| Tellurium critical | Cadmium-telluride thin-film cells | Important |
| Tin critical | Solder-coated interconnect ribbon | Important |
| Zinc critical | Galvanised mounting structures | Important |
| Gallium critical | CIGS thin film and cell doping | Present |
| Indium critical | CIGS thin film and transparent contacts | Present |
Aluminium
A light silvery metal made by passing an enormous electric current through dissolved bauxite — which is why people…
Copper
The reddish metal that carries electricity better than anything except silver, and which humans have been smelting…
Silicon
The second-most-common element in the Earth's crust — ordinary sand — purified until only one atom in a billion is…
Silver
The best electrical conductor there is, and the metal that has been used as money for longer than almost anything…
Soda Ash
Sodium carbonate, mined from trona rock or made from salt, and the second ingredient in almost every sheet of glass.
Tellurium
A brittle, silvery element recovered from the slime at the bottom of a copper refinery tank, and the basis of one of…
