Sun and Sand: Dirty silicon could supply solar power
Scientists have proposed a way to control the distribution of contaminants in silicon, potentially opening up the use of cheaper, “dirtier” starting materials for making solar cells. In a study published in the September Nature Materials, the researchers predict that the strategy could lower production costs of solar cells.
Silicon is the second most abundant element in Earth’s crust, but nature’s primary sources of silicon—sand and quartz—are tainted with metals. Converting silicon from these sources into superpure crystals is an expensive and time-consuming process.