The most important customer for cadmium is the battery sector. As the technology metal has a good level of neutron absorption, it is also used as a semi-finished product in nuclear reactors as a shielding material. Other relevant areas of application include the production of colour pigments, alloys, anti-corrosion coatings and PVC stabilisers. In photovoltaics, thin-film solar cells based on cadmium and tellurium are also becoming increasingly popular.