Project title: The impact of indium, gallium, germanium and tellurium as valuable elements critical for technology on the environment, in the aspect of their use in photovoltaic panels
One of the modern ways to generate energy is photovoltaics. Its share in the energy sector is growing year by year, and the global consumption and use of photovoltaics raise questions that this project addresses. Are so-called "smart cities" powered by photovoltaic energy vulnerable to the emergence of new environmental pollutants? Photovoltaic panels are constantly exposed to the sun, wind, and precipitation, which can cause damage. Do damaged photovoltaic (PV) panels, due to micro-damage, release their constituent elements into the environment? Photovoltaic panels contain, among other things, critical elements, so-called TCEs (Technology Critical Elements). TCEs are used in many industries, including electronics and electrical engineering, playing an important role in key technologies. Therefore, there is growing interest and attention from the scientific community focused on investigating these elements, for which information on TCEs and their speciation (forms of occurrence) is extremely rare in the global literature, especially for elements such as indium, gallium, tellurium, and germanium.
The project aims to understand the transformation and mobility of selected TCEs and their speciation forms in soils, soil solution, and runoff waters in areas immediately adjacent to photovoltaic panels, and to determine the impact of photovoltaic panels damaged by microcracks on the release of potentially toxic elements, including critical elements, into the environment. The research will answer questions such as: Do the concentrations of gallium, germanium, and indium increase in nature with their increased use in photovoltaics? Does the proximity of photovoltaic panels cause an increase in the concentration of selected TCEs in soil and groundwater? How does the concentration of selected TCEs in soil change with increasing distance from photovoltaic cells? In what speciation forms do Ge, Ga, Te, and In occur in soils, soil solutions, and runoff waters subjected to such anthropopressure? The proposed scope of research and the method for developing and interpreting the obtained results will enable the creation of a comprehensive and analytically advanced project concerning the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the speciation forms of selected TCEs related to photovoltaics, their mobility, and their environmental impact.
Project Details
Start Date: February 13, 2025
End Date: February 12, 2029
Call Name: OPUS 27
Funding: National Science Centre
Amount of Funding Awarded: PLN 1,966,640
Project Manager at the Silesian University of Technology: Dr. Joanna Willner
Consortium implementing the project:
Institute of Environmental Engineering, Polish Academy of Sciences - leader
Silesian University of Technology
