We can thank silicon for everything from computers to solar panels, but it's reaching its limits. Here’s why and what’s next.

#planeta #elemental #silicon

We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.

Follow Planet A on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dw_planeta?la...

Credits:
Author: Amanda Coulson-Drasner
Camera: Neven Hillebrands
Video Editor: Amanda Coulson-Drasner
Graphics: Adam Baheej Adada
Supervising Editor: Kiyo Dörrer, Michael Trobridge
Thumbnail: Em Chabridon

Thanks to:
Circular Silicon (https://www.circularsilicon.com/)
Ravinder Dahiya (https://coe.northeastern.edu/people/d...)
John Perlin (https://john-perlin.com/)
Gonçalo Marcelino

Read More:
Let It Shine: The 6,000-Year Story of Solar Energy, John Perlin   / let-it-shine  
What is Moore’s Law? https://ourworldindata.org/moores-law
Wide Bandgap Semiconductors https://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/artic...
Perovskite https://www.nature.com/articles/s4158...
Silicon https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/elem...

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:12 Background
02:11 Silicon in solar panels
02:53 Silicon in electronics
04:04 What’s wrong with silicon?
04:45 Understanding the bandgap
06:23 Wide bandgap materials
07:58 Sustainability concerns
09:19 Silicon recycling
09:56 Conclusion