What raw materials are missing for green future technologies

DrThe component, without which there is no solar energy, looks inconspicuous, like sparkling silver pebbles. This mineral is called polycrystalline silicon, or polysilicon for short. It is the most important raw material for the production of PV modules that German homeowners install on their rooftops with government subsidies. In large solar parks, units cover entire mountains.

“Solar energy is the new king of power generation,” Fatih Birol, director general of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said in Paris a year ago. Solar power is the cheapest that has ever existed in human history and, according to the International Energy Agency, is much cheaper than electricity from coal and gas power plants. In the future, photovoltaic cells will become the most important source of climate-friendly electricity in the world, the new king. The government in Berlin has set the goal of doubling Germany’s solar capacity by 2030.