Fig. 3: Corresponding materials demands (inflows) and decommissioned materials (outflows) associated with PV system under the early-loss scenario for three energy scenarios. | Nature Communications

Fig. 3: Corresponding materials demands (inflows) and decommissioned materials (outflows) associated with PV system under the early-loss scenario for three energy scenarios.

From: Role of anthropogenic mineral circularity in addressing dual challenges of resource supply and waste management in global photovoltaic development

Fig. 3

a Annual total materials inflows and outflows. b Total materials flow by different PV system components per period. c–e Materials flow per period of base materials, precious metals, and critical metals. Materials flow of hazardous metals (Pb, Cd), semiconductor and metalloid materials (Si, Se), and other metals (Mn, Ti, Mo, Cr, Ni, Sn, Mg, Zn) are provided in Supplementary Fig. 10. f Cumulative flow under three energy scenarios by 2050. g Proportion of cumulative outflows by material type by 2050. a–f Positive values represent inflows, while negative values represent outflows. The three energy scenarios are defined as follows: SPS Stated Policies Scenario, SDS Sustainable Development Scenario, and NES Net-Zero Emissions Scenario. The five photovoltaic (PV) modules include: m-Si monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic module, p-Si polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic module, a-Si amorphous silicon photovoltaic module, CdTe cadmium telluride photovoltaic module, and CIGS copper indium gallium selenide photovoltaic module. Mt denotes megatonnes.

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