Molybdenum as a Basis for Green Electronics:  PV, Lighting and Smart Grids

Published: November 01, 2011    Category: Advanced Materials

One area where we see an important niche market evolving for molybdenum is in the solar panel market.  Molybdenum is already the material of choice for the back electrodes in CIGS solar panels and we see this use spreading to the CdTe-based photovoltaics sector if this sector begins to experiment with new cell architectures.  There are several reasons why molybdenum has been chosen in this sector; one is its strong ability to adhere to substrates and active layers.

CIGS, in theory at least, has considerable market potential because it has the highest conversion efficiency of any of the thin-film PV technologies currently developed.  CIGS is also suitable for fabrication on flexible substrates, which makes it suitable for building-integrated PV (BIPV), which NanoMarkets sees as perhaps the most significant growth area for the solar panel industry in the next five years, because the economics of BIPV suggest that it could thrive in an environment where government subsidies are significantly reduced, a trend that seems highly likely to manifest itself.

Meanwhile, if CdTe ever begins to use molybdenum contacts then molybdenum will find another substantial niche market, since the CdTe space is already highly developed, indeed developed to a degree that most observers would not have expected a few years ago.  First Solar's CdTe panels are used in utility-scale solar, for example.  In addition, we appear to be standing at the beginning of a new era in the PV industry in which an entirely new generation of PV technologies will emerge.  Whether these will use molybdenum in any way, it is too early to tell, but success in the CIGS and possibly CdTe spaces would certainly open molybdenum up for consideration as an electrode material for PV technologies yet unborn.

Another way that molybdenum suppliers can tap into the market for green technology is in the lighting space.  Here all roads appear to lead to solid-state lighting; initially in the form of inorganic LEDs and then organic LED (OLED) lighting too, although the latter has a long way to go in terms of technological development. In these developments, NanoMarkets sees opportunities for molybdenum going forward; especially in the inorganic LED space. 

These devices burn very hot.  As a result, heat sinks become essential and, according to most observers, the metals and metal compounds that are used to fabricate these heat sinks account for a very substantial part of the bill of materials for LED lighting products. Among the materials that can be used for heat sinks in LEDs are the molybdenum-copper alloys, MoCu or Cu-Mo-Cu.  In the OLED space, molybdenum-doped zinc oxide has been presented as an alternative electrode material as a potential way to improve performance.

LEDs are not the only sector of green electronics that might be in need of molybdenum heat sinks.  We should also consider here their role in smart electricity grids, which often incorporate systems such as FACTS and high-voltage DC transmission that incorporate high-end power semiconductors.  Such semiconductors are simply unable to operate for long without substantial heat sinks and molybdenum sheets that are machined and plated to exacting specifications are seen as one way of providing this functionality.

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