Fool’s gold may not be so foolish for solar energy
By Nelson Daily Staff
Pyrite, also known as fool’s gold, was the stuff of heartbreak for many a gold miner.
Mimicking the look of the precious gold they were after, pyrite was considered essentially worthless. But for the solar energy industry, pyrite just may turn into a pot of gold.
Researchers at the University of California Irvine are working towards using the plentiful mineral to create a solar receptive film at a cost far lower than that of using rare earth minerals.
“With alternative energy and climate change issues, we’re always in a race against time,” said lead researcher Matt Law. “With some insight and a little bit of luck, we could find a good solution with something that’s now disposed of as useless garbage.”
Commercial solar cells require expensive and possibly toxic materials such as cadmium telluride and silicon as the core of a solar cell, and often those materials come from China. Alternatively, pyrite is cheap and ubiquitous.
Article continues: http://www.globalwarmingisreal.com/2011/01/18/fools-gold-may-not-be-so-foolish-for-solar-energy/
