Rare earth materials are so called not because they are rare in the earth’s crust, but because they are chemically very similar. This makes them difficult to mine and separate without a costly and polluting refining process. There are 17 REEs in the periodic table, comprising the lanthanide series, yttrium, and. .
Unlike the wind power and EV sectors, the solar PV industry isn’t reliant on rare earth materials. Instead, solar cells use a range of minor metals including silicon, indium, gallium, selenium,. .
Solar technology developers are exploring the use of new materials for PV cells as the industry looks to increase cell efficiencies, reduce costs.
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