Indium solar abundance

Although conventional solar cells based on silicon are produced from abundant raw materials, the high-temperature fabrication routes to single-crystal and polycrystalline silicon are energy intensive and expensive. The search for alternative solar cells has therefore focused on thin films composed of amorphous silicon and on other semiconductor heterojunction cells (e.g., cadmium telluride and copper indium... 

Figure 1.1 illustrates the nature of the problem by summarizing the natural abundance and raw elemental costs for materials that are used in thin-film solar cells. It is important to note that a logarithmic scale has been used for both the abundance and the raw materials cost. The most expensive material by far is indium, and the availability and cost of indium have become geopolitical issues in recent months since it is used in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays and touch screens. 

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