Featured in Gas busters – 09-2020

Waste not, want not

In the fourth quarter, pv magazine’s UP initiative is turning its attention to the topic of PV module recycling. With huge projected volumes of waste edging ever nearer, the topic is gathering speed on a global level. But how can the tension between economic viability and equipment lifetimes of up to 30 years and beyond be addressed? And what is happening in the field of recycling technology? Will it ever be possible to extract the most valuable materials from today’s PV modules?

By

Becky Beetz

08 Sep 2020

“Today’s PV-recycling processes are not optimized for cost-effective recovery of high-purity materials at very high recovery rates or for environmental outcomes,” researchers said in a paper that was recently published in Nature Energy. | Image: PV Cycle

By now, almost everyone has seen the much touted 2016 figures released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). An estimated 1.7 million to 8 million tons of cumulative PV waste is expected by the 2030s, and 60 million to 78 million tons by the 2050s. It will primarily …

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