Safe salt could yield cheaper, more efficient solar cells

A cheap, safe salt could be the key ingredient for concocting efficient solar cells.

Right now, the most efficient solar cells are made with a layer of cadmium telluride, which absorbs more sunlight and converts more of it to energy than silicon solar cells. However, cadmium telluride solar cells are made with cadmium chloride, an expensive and highly toxic salt.

To cut costs and toxicity, scientists instead tried making cadmium telluride solar cells with magnesium chloride, a cheap, benign salt. Tests show that the solar cells made with the safer salt are as efficient as those made with cadmium chloride, researchers report June 26 in Nature.