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1. Technologies for Profitable Recycling of Si Modules

   Tao, C; Huang, WH; Zhou, Z; Lyu, R; Ricci, L; Tezak, C; Jaubert, JN; Tao, M (December 2019, Technologies for Profitable Recycling of Si Modules, Proceedings of 29th International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference)

   Solar module recycling is unprofitable today. In this paper potential revenues from waste Si modules are analyzed. The biggest revenue potential comes from the Si cells, extracted intact or broken. The second revenue source is the bulky materials in the modules including Al frame, Cu wiring and glass. The total revenue is estimated between US$11–30/module depending on the percentage of cells extracted intact. This revenue is 4–10 times better than today’s recycling process that recovers only the bulky materials. Experimentally a special furnace has been demonstrated to successfully separate thin commercial Si cells of 160 microns from glass unbroken. From damaged cells a new chemistry has been developed to recover solar-grade Si and Ag. It requires fewer steps than today’s recycling process, with Ag recovery of 97% and Si recovery of 90%. A prototype recycling line is needed to assess the cost of the new process. 

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2. Recycling lead and transparent conductors from perovskite solar modules

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26121-1  

   Chen, Bo; Fei, Chengbin; Chen, Shangshang; Gu, Hangyu; Xiao, Xun; Huang, Jinsong (December 2021, Nature Communications)

   Abstract Perovskite photovoltaics are gaining increasing common ground to partner with or compete with silicon photovoltaics to reduce cost of solar energy. However, a cost-effective waste management for toxic lead (Pb), which might determine the fate of this technology, has not been developed yet. Here, we report an end-of-life material management for perovskite solar modules to recycle toxic lead and valuable transparent conductors to protect the environment and create dramatic economic benefits from recycled materials. Lead is separated from decommissioned modules by weakly acidic cation exchange resin, which could be released as soluble Pb(NO 3 ) 2 followed by precipitation as PbI 2 for reuse, with a recycling efficiency of 99.2%. Thermal delamination disassembles the encapsulated modules with intact transparent conductors and cover glasses. The refabricated devices based on recycled lead iodide and recycled transparent conductors show comparable performance as devices based on fresh raw materials. Cost analysis shows this recycling technology is economically attractive. 

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3. Material Requirement and Resource Availability for Silicon Photovoltaic Laminate Manufacturing in the Next 10 Years

   https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC43889.2021.9518663  

   Heidari, Seyed M; Anctil, Annick (June 2021, 2021 IEEE 48th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC))

   Material scarcity is a considerable threat to energy transition towards renewables. Photovoltaics (PV) installations are expected to increase rapidly in the next decade, which may increase the amount of material needed. This study created three scenarios (S 1 , S 2 , & S 3 ) to evaluate the impacts of potential technology improvements on the quantity of materials necessary for manufacturing silicon PV (Si PV) laminate in the next ten years. Our baseline was similar to previous studies, which applied theoretical models on PV historical data and ignored PV technology improvements that can influence future material projections. S 1 considered only market share and module efficiency, while S 2 covered wafer thickness improvements as well. S 3 was the scenario that more likely will occur in the next decade, which included module efficiency, market share, wafer thickness, glass thickness, and potential replacements such as using perovskite/silicon tandem. The material requirement for Si PV laminate manufacturing in S 3 was 22% to 78% lower than the baseline, S 1 , and S 2 . The highest material demand is expected to be for solar glass (74 million metric tons) and Metallurgical grade silicon (3 million metric tons) in the next decade. This study showed the importance of considering technology improvements to project the PV material requirement. 

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4. Materials Discovery of Stable and Nontoxic Halide Perovskite Materials for High‐Efficiency Solar Cells

   https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201804354  

   Jacobs, Ryan; Luo, Guangfu; Morgan, Dane (April 2019, Advanced Functional Materials)

   Abstract Two critical limitations of organic–inorganic lead halide perovskite materials for solar cells are their poor stability in humid environments and inclusion of toxic lead. In this study, high‐throughput density functional theory (DFT) methods are used to computationally model and screen 1845 halide perovskites in search of new materials without these limitations that are promising for solar cell applications. This study focuses on finding materials that are comprised of nontoxic elements, stable in a humid operating environment, and have an optimal bandgap for one of single junction, tandem Si‐perovskite, or quantum dot–based solar cells. Single junction materials are also screened on predicted single junction photovoltaic (PV) efficiencies exceeding 22.7%, which is the current highest reported PV efficiency for halide perovskites. Generally, these methods qualitatively reproduce the properties of known promising nontoxic halide perovskites that are either experimentally evaluated or predicted from theory. From a set of 1845 materials, 15 materials pass all screening criteria for single junction cell applications, 13 of which are not previously investigated, such as (CH₃NH₃)_0.75Cs_0.25SnI₃, ((NH₂)₂CH)Ag_0.5Sb_0.5Br₃, CsMn_0.875Fe_0.125I₃, ((CH₃)₂NH₂)Ag_0.5Bi_0.5I₃, and ((NH₂)₂CH)_0.5Rb_0.5SnI₃. These materials, together with others predicted in this study, may be promising candidate materials for stable, highly efficient, and nontoxic perovskite‐based solar cells. 

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5. Novel synthesis of semiconductor chalcohalide anti-perovskites by low-temperature molecular precursor ink deposition methodologies

   https://doi.org/10.1039/d3tc04410f  

   Caño, Ivan; Turnley, Jonathan W; Benítez, Pol; López-Álvarez, Cibrán; Asensi, José-Miguel; Payno, David; Puigdollers, Joaquim; Placidi, Marcel; Cazorla, Claudio; Agrawal, Rakesh; et al (February 2024, Journal of Materials Chemistry C)

   In recent years, a growing interest in the development of new energy harvesting technologies based on earth-abundant, environmentally-friendly semiconductors, has led to the re-discovery of hitherto overlooked materials. Among them, Ag-based chalcohalides stand out for their abundancy and low-toxicity, as well as the crystal structure analogous to perovskite, albeit with cations in place of anions and vice-versa (i.e. anti-perovskite). Until now, inorganic anti-perovskites have generally been studied as solid-state electrolytes. Indeed, Ag3SI was identified in the 1960s as a superionic conductor. On the other hand, theorical calculations have demonstrated bandgaps in the visible range, suggesting that they could be suitable for PV applications. However, there is little published information on their potential as energy harvesting materials and so far, thin films have been prepared by solid-state reactions or physical vapor deposition techniques at high temperature and/or vacuum conditions, which limits their commercial viability owing to costly, non-scalable processes. In this work, we present a new procedure to synthesize Ag-based chalcohalides by a low-temperature solution-based methodology, using an thiol-amine reactive solvent system to dissolve Ag2S and AgX (X = Br, I) precursors, followed by spin coating deposition to obtain polycrystalline films. Through this process, it has been possible to synthesize Ag3S(IxBr1−x) (x = 0–1) films for the first time, which have been characterized, demonstrating the formation of the anti-perovskite phase and a linear correlation between structural parameters and composition. Optical characterization shows bandgap ranging from 0.9 eV (Ag3SI) to 1.0 eV (Ag3SBr), with a bowing effect for the intermediate solid solutions. First solar cells prototypes demonstrate photo-response and promising electrical characteristics. 

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