First Tellurium's subsidiary PyroDelta is developing a tellurium film for the back of solar panels, estimated at 11% to 12% efficiency, designed to keep panels generating power when sunlight fades.
At a glance
- PyroDelta Energy, First Tellurium Corp.'s subsidiary, announced on September 14, 2026 that it is developing a tellurium-based thermoelectric film for the back of solar panels.
- The film generates electricity from the temperature difference between a hot panel surface and cooler surrounding air and ground, not from sunlight itself.
- Head engineer Michael Abdelmaseh estimates the film at 11% to 12% efficiency, versus 20% to 22% for a conventional silicon photovoltaic cell.
- The technology is designed to add output when direct sunlight is reduced or absent, complementing rather than replacing standard solar panels.
What happened
First Tellurium Corp.'s technology subsidiary, PyroDelta Energy, said on September 14, 2026, that it is developing a tellurium-based thermoelectric film designed to keep solar panels generating electricity after the sun goes down or when direct sunlight is scarce. The film is meant to sit on the back of a standard photovoltaic panel without any change to the panel's own design, drawing power instead from the temperature difference between the hot panel surface and the cooler air and ground around it — heat a conventional panel currently just radiates away. PyroDelta's head engineer, Michael Abdelmaseh, put a figure on the technology for the first time: "We estimate our thermoelectric film is about 11% to 12% efficient," well below the 20% to 22% a modern silicon solar cell converts from sunlight, but additive rather than competing, since it works precisely when the panel's own output is falling. The company, listed as CSE:FTEL and OTC:FSTTF, described the film as still early-stage, with potential use on both new installations and, pending further testing, the existing global installed base of panels. CEO Tyrone Docherty added that PyroDelta's "immediate focus remains the drone technology, which we believe represents the most direct path to commercialization" — a signal that the solar film sits behind other projects in the company's development queue, not ahead of them.
The details
A solar panel wastes most of the heat it absorbs. Sunlight that doesn't get converted to electricity by the panel's silicon cells still warms the panel surface, and that heat normally just radiates away into the air and the ground beneath it. PyroDelta's film is built to sit on the unused back side of the panel and turn that temperature gap — hot panel, cooler surroundings — directly into a second stream of electricity, using tellurium's thermoelectric properties rather than light absorption. It needs no redesign of the panel itself, which is what makes it a retrofit candidate rather than a new product category competing for the same rooftop space.
The efficiency figure the company put on it, 11% to 12%, has to be read against what it's actually replacing: nothing. A panel generates zero output once the sun sets or drops low enough that irradiance falls off, and a thermoelectric film keeps drawing power from residual heat during exactly that window, at a fraction of the panel's own peak efficiency but from an energy source the panel currently discards entirely. That framing — additive, not competitive — is also why the 20% to 22% comparison the company itself volunteered doesn't undercut the pitch; the two numbers aren't measuring the same thing.
What tempers the story is the company's own sequencing. PyroDelta is working several tellurium-based thermoelectric applications at once — a device demonstrated in 2024 for automotive, greenhouse and industrial waste-heat uses, a stated push into capturing waste heat from AI data centers, and now this solar-panel film — and its CEO was explicit that drone technology, not the film, is the nearest to market. For a small-cap exploration and technology company whose Deer Horn tellurium property has always been the longer-dated part of its story, that prioritization is a reasonable signal of how far out commercial solar-film revenue actually sits, rather than a knock against the science.
For a market as thin as tellurium's, though, every additional named application matters to the long-run demand picture even before any one of them ships. Cadmium telluride solar cells already account for the bulk of current tellurium demand, and a thermoelectric add-on that rides on the back of the same panels — rather than requiring an entirely separate deployment — is a natural adjacency if PyroDelta can get the economics to work at commercial scale.
Why it matters
PyroDelta's film is an early-stage bet on a second job for tellurium on a solar panel: not just absorbing light in the cadmium telluride layer up front, but harvesting the panel's own waste heat from behind. For a small-cap explorer whose story has so far centered on tellurium's supply scarcity, each new named application — data-center waste heat, drones, and now this solar film — signals how many revenue paths the company is testing at once, not yet evidence that any one of them is close to market; the CEO's own comment ranks the film behind drone technology in that queue.
Our read
Outlook: neutral. This is an early-stage, single-company technology announcement that the company's own CEO ranks behind its drone project for near-term commercialization, with no independent efficiency verification disclosed — not yet a demand driver material to the broader tellurium market, even though it adds another named application to tellurium's long-run demand story.
What to watch
- Any independent efficiency testing or third-party validation of PyroDelta's thermoelectric film
- Whether PyroDelta advances the solar-film timeline given the CEO's comments naming drone technology as the nearer-term commercialization focus
- Patent filings, pilot deployments, or partnership announcements tied specifically to the solar-panel film
For information only, not investment advice.
Tellurium price in India
metalscost.com India reference price as of 2026-10-03.
Detailed analysis
Timeline
- 2024-03-13: First Tellurium and PyroDelta demonstrate an earlier tellurium-based thermoelectric generator device (a separate product from the 2026 solar film), with patents applied for in Canada and the United States.
- 2026-09-14: PyroDelta announces it is developing a tellurium-based thermoelectric film for the back of solar panels, estimated at 11% to 12% efficiency.
Demand Drivers
Growing global solar photovoltaic deployment creates ongoing demand for technologies that raise energy yield per panel without new land or hardware — the market PyroDelta's thermoelectric film targets by adding output when direct sunlight is low or absent, on top of tellurium's existing role as the light-absorbing layer in cadmium telluride solar cells.
What could lift prices
- The film is a new potential application for tellurium beyond PyroDelta's existing data-center waste-heat and drone projects, broadening the company's bet on tellurium-based thermoelectric technology.
- The design requires no change to a standard photovoltaic panel, making it a plausible retrofit for the existing global installed base if efficiency and cost targets are eventually met.
What could weigh on prices
- PyroDelta's own CEO named drone technology, not the solar film, as the company's nearest path to commercialization, indicating the film remains early-stage with no announced production timeline.
- The 11% to 12% efficiency figure is the company's own estimate, with no independent third-party testing or verification of performance disclosed alongside it.
Country impact
| Country | Impact | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | Low | First Tellurium Corp. and its subsidiary PyroDelta Energy are Canadian, listed on the CSE, and the thermoelectric film is being developed and tested there. |
Industry impact
| Industry | Effect | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Renewable Energy | Positive | A film that adds electricity output from a solar panel's own waste heat, without redesigning the panel, offers a potential incremental efficiency gain for solar developers if the technology matures to commercial scale. |
Who gains, who loses
- First Tellurium Corp. and PyroDelta Energy Corp.: A validated solar-panel application would give the company a new potential product line and tellurium-demand narrative beyond its existing data-center and drone-focused thermoelectric projects.
Other ways this could play out
- If PyroDelta validates the film's performance and cost at commercial scale, it could become a retrofit component solar developers add to new or existing panel fleets, widening tellurium demand into a new application.
- If testing outside controlled conditions doesn't hold up, or the economics don't clear against simpler storage or grid alternatives, the film could remain confined to pilot-scale use while the company's nearer-term drone technology moves ahead of it instead.
Price risks
- Tellurium demand narratives tied to a single small-cap company's early-stage technology announcements carry more uncertainty than demand tied to already-commercial applications like cadmium telluride solar cells.
- If the solar film or PyroDelta's other thermoelectric projects fail to reach commercial deployment, any tellurium-demand upside built around them would not materialize.
Technical view
Price is trading above both its 20-period and 50-period moving averages, a bullish alignment.
Computed from metalscost.com's own stored price history.
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