Thin-film Technologies- Cadmium Telluride
Overview:
Product Description:
Cadmium Telluride (CdTe): Another prominent polycrystalline thin-film material, CdTe shares many of the positive attributes with other thin-film technologies such as high absorptivity, low cost, and short energy payback period. There is, however, one issue with pure CdTe cells; absorptive CdTe films tend to be very resistive to electron flow, which leads to large internal losses. In order to avoid these losses, a layer of p-type Zinc Telluride is added to the underside of the intrinsic (not p-type or n-type) CdTe layer, which is still able to create an electric field despite being separated from the n-type layer.
CdTe Basics:
- 0.9 year payback period. (1.9 yrs with frame)
- Typical module efficiency = 6 – 8%
- Max cell efficiency = 16%
Australian Manufacturers of CdTe PV modules:
Availability:
Assessment Criteria Satisfied
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