Can indium promise better solar panels?

While I was at the CeBit show, I spoke with some IBM reps who were promoting their proprietary CIGS material as a replacement for silicon in solar panels. CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, and selenide) is less expensive to produce and weighs a lot less, which is important for someone trying to install a couple of panels on their roof in the hot sun.

My initial reaction: sounds like a good thing. But I recently read a report holding indium under some scrutiny for the same reason IBM hopes to break free from silicon: it’s expensive.

According to a Nanomarkets report titled The Future of ITO: Transparent Conductor and ITO Replacement Markets , Indium has risen from tens of dollars to $1,000 per kilogram in the recent past.

More than that, Lawrence Gasman, the author of the report and principle analyst of Nanomarkets, pointed out that the “silicon shortage has largely gone away,” or is at least well on its way to not being an issue. When silicon producers realized that photovoltaic (PV) suppliers were using it as their main ingredient, they upped their production.

Both materials are fairly common, so accessibility isn’t the issue. The problem with indium is it has to be extracted from zinc, and the largest source for indium currently is Chinese zinc mines.

While indium doesn’t represent a large percentage of the current PV products, Gasman believes the material, and CIGS specifically, offers “a lot of potential.”

“CIGS really does have the potential give [PVs] the performance of silicon,” he said. Of course, he noted, if CIGS really took off, the call would be on zinc-mining companies to extract the material. I’m sure they wouldn’t have any problems with a business model.