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  • Review Article
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Actions for sustainably scalable multi-terawatt photovoltaics

Nature Reviews Clean Technology volume 2, pages 107–122 (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

Global deployment of photovoltaic (PV) systems is entering the multi-terawatt scale. Decisions on efficiency, material selection and recyclability will have increasingly large impacts as the PV industry expands. In this Review, we assess which actions ensure sustainability in the PV industry. A PV system requires two to three orders of magnitude less material compared with fossil fuel electricity over the device’s lifetime; however, adding around half a million square kilometres of module area still creates serious challenges in terms of resource consumption and sustainability. Reducing material demands while incorporating material streams into a circular economy can increase the sustainability of material supply. In the short term, the rapid growth of PV will enable decarbonization of the electricity supply, whereas development of multijunction devices and thin-film technologies such as perovskite or concentrator III–V PV can reduce material and energy demand. End-of-life management for PV modules must be considered at the design stage, as these decisions affect future waste outcomes decades later. Finally, social responsibility is an integral part of sustainability and essential for broad acceptance of PV. Understanding the specific challenges of available options will enable optimum sustainable yield from multi-terawatt-scale PVs.

Key points

  • Sustainable material choices are required to maintain rapid growth of photovoltaic (PV) deployment, which in turn is required to decarbonize an increased electricity supply.

  • Keeping material demands within sustainable limits will require continuing improvement of PV device efficiency (for example, through multijunction technology) to enable more power to be generated per module.

  • Terawatt deployments of PV consume integer percentages of annual global production of materials mandating circular end-of-life management and recycling procedures to minimize raw material extraction.

  • Maintaining social acceptance, which is essential for continued rapid growth, will require social engagement on device installation and siting, management and operation, and decommissioning and recycling.

  • PV industry sustainability is a multidimensional optimization problem, but aiming for optimum sustainable yield from PV technologies can ensure future sustainable solar energy harvesting.

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Fig. 1: Growth of solar photovoltaics in the global energy system.
Fig. 2: Challenges facing PV capacity expansion.
Fig. 3: Material demands of solar PVs and wind, compared with fossil fuel technologies.
Fig. 4: Resource criticality of materials for PV technologies.
Fig. 5: Life cycle of global photovoltaics energy systems in society.

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Acknowledgements

The work on this publication was supported by European Union’s Horizon Europe Framework Programme for research and innovation under grant agreement nos 101084124 (DIAMOND) and 101081604 (PRISMA). The work at Fraunhofer ISE was supported by the project SustEnMat with funding from the Carl Zeiss Foundation. M.D. and J.d.G. are grateful for support from the UK Government’s Ayrton Challenge through the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF) as part of the REACH-PSM project. M.D. is also grateful for funding of the TEA@SUNRISE project, funded from the UK government via the Transforming Energy Access platform, and funding from UK Research and Innovation and the EU Horizon Europe Framework Programme (101122277). The authors thank R. Way (University of Oxford) for valuable discussion on learning models and for providing updated data on historical energy costs of various energy technologies and D. Lackner and O. Höhn (Fraunhofer ISE) for providing data on III–V materials and processes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics of Solar Energy Conversion, Department of Physics, Marburg University, Marburg, Germany

    Lukas Wagner & Jan Christoph Goldschmidt

  2. mar.quest Marburg Center for Quantum Materials and Sustainable Technologies, Marburg University, Marburg, Germany

    Lukas Wagner & Jan Christoph Goldschmidt

  3. Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Erlangen, Germany

    Ian Marius Peters

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Annick Anctil

  5. SPECIFIC IKC, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea, UK

    Matthew Davies

  6. School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Matthew Davies

  7. African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa

    Jiska de Groot

  8. School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Li Wang

  9. Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg, Germany

    Henning Helmers

  10. Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany

    Robert Pietzcker

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Contributions

L. Wagner and J.C.G. conceived the scope of this Review. All authors contributed to developing the narrative of the Review. L. Wagner assembled data and text and coordinated the cooperation. R.P. contributed with discussion and data for the PV capacity expansion models. I.M.P. drafted the section on lifetime yield. The section on material choices was drafted by L. Wang (Si), A.A. (CdTe), H.H. (III–V and concentrator PV) and L. Wagner (perovskite). M.D. drafted the section on circular materials streams. J.d.G. drafted the section on social responsibility. L. Wagner wrote the manuscript and designed the figures. J.C.G. revised and improved the manuscript. All authors reviewed the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lukas Wagner.

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Nature Reviews Clean Technology thanks Giulia Grancini, Jijun Lu and Cordula Schmid for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Glossary

Companionality

Degree to which a metal is obtained as a by-product in the mining of host metals.

Host metals

Major metals obtained by the processing of geological ores.

Mass materials

Materials that are produced and used in large quantities such as concrete or mass metals.

Power conversion efficiency

(PCE). The ratio of electrical power output by a PV converter to incident radiant flux. They are standardized measurements, which allow for the assessment of PV performances between research laboratories and certification of commercial PV modules.

Specific power

Power per area or power per weight.

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Wagner, L., Peters, I.M., Anctil, A. et al. Actions for sustainably scalable multi-terawatt photovoltaics. Nat. Rev. Clean Technol. 2, 107–122 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44359-025-00129-y

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