Environmental, health and safety issues related to commercializing CuInSe{sub 2}-based photovoltaics

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Abstract
Photovoltaics technology is rapidly evolving towards a new generation of low-cost thin film technologies. One of the most promising materials in this new generation is copper indium selenide (CuInSe{sub 2} or CIS). As with any new material, successful commercialization of CIS photovoltaic (PV) technology will require attention to environmental, health and safety issues, including consideration of the sources, usage, and end-of-product-life disposal and/or recycling of the constituent materials. This work focuses on three specific environmental, health and safety (EH and S) issues related to CIS PV: (1) economics are analyzed to determine their impact on materials use and re-use; (2) Federal and California State environmental disposal and waste handling regulations are analyzed to evaluate their impact on PV module manufacturing and end-of-life module handling; and (3) the logistics and economics of product recycling and waste disposal by industries with comparable EH and S issues are examined to quantify the corresponding options available for handling, disposing of and/or recycling manufacturing by-products and end-of-life modules.

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