Potential Legal Risks Associated with by Cadmium Telluride Solar Cells in India: A Literature Review

sustainability, climate change, risks, solar cells, first generation silicon, cadmium telluride, energy transition, central legislature, life-cycle analysis

‘The Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future’ promulgated in 1987 is the fundamental document envisaged sustainability. The mission for sustainability has resulted into Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, Rio+5 Summit, which formulated Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000 by the United Nations. Gaps in Implementation of MDGs led formulation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in 2015 by the United Nations with 17 detailed and specialized goals. The equity of resource availability and utilization intergenerationally is to be ensured, by addressing environmental degradation, decrease in natural resources, poverty and hardship through reinforcement of economic interest, survival imperatives of people, reduction of poverty by alleviating environmental degradation, inequalities, inclusion of multiple stakeholders for deciding the welfare of economy, society, environment to minimize any adverse impact on planet earth by 2030. Goal-13 of SDG, ensures responsible action by addressing climate change for climate justice. The Inter-governmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) has come up with report on increasing temperature in the environment causes global warming and climate change due to increased concentration of carbon dioxide. This led many countries including India to sign Paris Agreement, 2015 for its reduction. This implied researchers to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment by reducing its emission, storage and removal of carbon dioxide by physical and chemical means. Reduction of emission of carbon dioxide through adoption and resultant transition to renewable energy systems from conventional non-renewable energy systems as one of the ways for climate justice is recognized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In which solar photovoltaics is a convenient form of renewable energy. Solar photovoltaics accounts for 9.61% percent energy mix of India on 30^th April 2025, whereas, coal-fired thermal power accounts for approximately 74.58%. This difference is evident as there are many challenges associated with solar energy documented in academic literatures. The availability of coal in diverse geographically locations and its domestic access made many developing countries, like India to preclude them from geo-political meddling by any foreign power. However, coal is non-renewable energy resource, and its adverse impacts has led to agreements that compels India for energy transition. The review will outline those challenges and legal implications of adopting Cadmium Telluride Solar Cells pertaining to central legislature of India. The issues related to Cadmium Telluride solar cells with respect to life cycle analysis that includes laws enacted from extraction to end-of-life. Here, laws required to adhered at the time of installation during usage of solar cell is considered. The literature review will provide a narrative for challenges delineated by law as well as technology to achieve Goal-13 of SDG.