Rare Earth Used In Solar Panels

Terbium and europium are used in thin film solar panels while dysprosium is used to manufacture batteries in most hybrid gas electric vehicles.

Rare earth used in solar panels.

And despite their name they aren t actually that rare at all. Rare earth metals hard to find materials with unfamiliar names such as lanthanum neodymium and europium are used in wind and solar energy projects but dwindling supplies could hindera roll out of low carbon technologies and slow china s shift away from coal power. Of the commonly used batteries only nickel metal hydride nimh batteries contain a rare earth alloy on the cathode but. Thin cheap solar panels need tellurium which makes up a scant 0 0000001 percent of the earth s crust making it three times rarer than gold.

In 2011 the average price of rare earth metals shot up by as much as 750 percent. Neodymium is used in wind turbines and hybrid cars. Experts have found that the rare metals required to build solar panels such as indium and tellurium are not in sufficient supply to keep up with demand. Currently marketed photovoltaic solar technologies do not use rare earths.

A new report by the french environment and energy management agency ademe shows that rare earth minerals are not widely used in solar energy and battery storage technologies. High performance batteries need lithium which is only easily extracted from briny pools in the andes.