Solar mounting structure made of recycled wind turbine blades

Spain’s Acciona Energia is using fiberglass from the blades of used wind turbines to make the torsion beams of solar trackers. It is using the tech as part of a pilot project in Badajoz, Spain.

Image: Basotxerri, Wikimedia Commons

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From pv magazine Spain

Acciona Energia has revealed that it is using fiberglass from the blades of used wind turbines to manufacture the torsion beams of horizontal solar mounting structures.

The pilot project applies a micronizing process to out-of-service wind turbine blades. The Spain-based solar developer said that this technique reduces the size of the fiberglass to microns – mostly through mechanical transformation techniques.

“The resulting powder is very versatile and can be used as a recycled raw material in the manufacture of new products,” said Acciona Energia.

The company combines the fiber powder glass as a filler through a subsequent process, together with resin and a reinforcing fiber. It then heats this into a mold, in order to produce a profile with the desired geometry and length.

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Acciona Energia is testing the results of the mounting structure in the Extremadura I-II-III PV plant in Badajoz, Spain.

“In the medium term, we will have commercial solutions,” said Asun Padrós, innovation project manager at Acciona Energia.

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