Solar energy has become a major industry.
In the Swedish pavilion at the world exhibition that is now taking place in Dubai is a house whose glass facade was constructed by Soltech, where the sunlight is converted into electricity, the same principle that the company used in the Vallastaden district when it was built four years ago.
The company is now working with similarly large solar cell facades in Jönköping and Mölnlycke, among others.
Toxic solar cells
Anna Svensson is the inventor of the company and she tells about how the parking garage in Vallastaden changes colors depending on the season, but the solar cells there are made of cadmium telluride, a toxic material.
- Yes, that is true, but the development is progressing so we will get more and more environmentally friendly materials in the future.
She says that the cadmium telluride in Vallastaden is encapsulated in glass so that no toxins will be spread if, for example, it starts to burn.
Her colleague Rickard Viklund fills in:
- Cadmium is a residual product of zinc mining, so we solve the problem from another environmental problem and make it a green solution instead.
See more in the video above.