Flow of Cadmium from Rechargeable Batteries in the United States, 1996-2007
By David R. Wilburn
Abstract
Cadmium metal has been found to be toxic to humans and the environment under certain conditions; therefore, a thorough understanding of the use and disposal of the metal is warranted. Most of the cadmium used in the United States comes from imported products. In 2007, more than 83 percent of the cadmium used in the United States was contained in batteries, mostly in rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries used in popular consumer products such as cordless phones and power tools. The flow of cadmium contained in rechageable nickel-cadmium batteries used in the United States was tracked for the years 1996 to 2007. The amount of cadmium metal contained in imported products in 2007 was estimated to be about 1,900 metric tons, or about 160 percent higher than the reported cadmium production in the United States from all primary and secondary sources. Although more than 40,000 metric tons of cadmium was estimated to be contained in nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries that became obsolete during the 12-year study period, not all of this material was sent to municipal solid waste landfills. About 27 percent of the material available for recovery in the United States was recycled domestically in 2007; the balance was discarded in municipal solid waste landfills, exported for recycling, retained in temporary storage, or thrown away.
https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2007/5198/
Most of the agricultural contamination is from cadmium's presence in phosphorous containing fertilizers (about 100mg/kg of phosphorus).
And as for your boogyman, CdTe panels are less than 5% of the solar market.
More on: Perovskite materials for solar, and more
Perovskite materials are emerging as a promising alternative in solar cells to silicon, thin-film cadmium telluride and thin-film cadmium sulphide (CdTe/CdS).
In 2013, Science magazine listed perovskite among the top 10 breakthroughs of the year. This was no coincidence because perovskite is a highly promising material for the solar power industry.
Its efficiency levels have already reached 22.1% and continue to increase, while it is very easy to obtain thin films of these OHPs, just from solutions in conventional organic solvents.
These perovskites in general are full of riddles and mysteries. They have such a unique crystal structure, making it possible to obtain variety of unconventional physical properties – I already mentioned the best high-temperature superconductors (in Ba-based inorganic perovskites).
Their structure is so diverse that it offers many other useful properties, including ferroelectricity and non-linear optical activity. If we compare our particular OHP hybrid perovskites with inorganic superconductors, we can see that this material functions in a rather unusual manner, as far as photovoltaics are concerned. Charge carriers live too long and travel too far, after they are photo-generated by light.
And it is still not clear why they can be so easily separated – maybe because of tiny internal electric fields, created by organic electric dipoles of CH3NH3 methylamine, or because of ions of iodine, moving in a certain way. All this questions still waiting their resolution, which creates an exciting challenge for researchers.
It has already been proved that perovskite solar cells can surpass currently available silicon-based solar batteries in terms of their efficiency, and that they can probably catch up with gallium arsenide quite soon. Scientists continue to increase their efficiency, to develop ever new methods for obtaining materials. They continue to improve the properties of thin films, but no one can explain their impressive performance for the time being.
There is no need to use rare-earth or other precious metals for making perovskite-based solar cells. Perovskite panels are made using a low-temperature process and inexpensive ordinary-salt solutions known for their low production costs. A 6W perovskite solar battery measuring 15 x 20cm costs about $3....
https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/perovskite-materials-solar-expert-speaks-2017-05/
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