eco design

Industry body Recharge says it would be absurd if the makers of small batteries were required by law to collect and recycle products the size of shipping containers, and claim a requirement individual battery cells be replaceable will pose a safety risk.

A consultation process examining whether legislation is required to ensure the eco credentials of panels and inverters is focusing on eco-design and energy labeling but has also made mention of the need for less carbon intensive manufacturing.

Researchers have just under four weeks to apply for backing for their projects, in areas including battery reuse and recycling, circular manufacturing and supercapacitors.

An extensive European Commission regulation has set the bar on those economic activities deemed to help in the war against global heating and, by implication, those which may hinder the effort.

CEA-INES, the French National Institute for Solar Energy, is gearing up to host the fourth edition of its ECO-PV workshop. Originally scheduled to be held this spring, Covid-19 has seen it pushed back to March 2021. Experts in the field of solar sustainability will present on, and discuss, “Photovoltaics: towards a sustainable industry”, with topics ranging from recycling, lifecycle assessment and European policy to manufacturing and the circular economy. In an interview, the institute speaks to pv magazine about the current state of solar sustainability and its goals for future work.

The centralized nature of policymaking in Beijing would enable component standardization to ease the transition from EV to stationary energy storage use, according to Greenpeace East Asia.

Rising volumes of solar capacity are to be welcomed but, as panelists at a session of today’s SolarPower Europe event discussed, the technology must be kept ethical and responsible. That means industry working together; new, harmonized, mandatory and voluntary policy instruments; and a focus on quantifiable, life cycle-based investor criteria.

Some 81% of the everyday folk asked how the U.K. should realize its net zero 2050 ambition said solar should be part of the mix and views were also aired on electric and hydrogen transport, home heating and how to incentivize companies to embrace a circular manufacturing model.

Amid a growing appetite for sustainability from customers, Lithuanian solar panel maker Solitek is applying circular principles to its production operations. Measures include embracing digitalization and new approaches to design. Project manager Tadas Radavičius has spoken to pv magazine about the company’s work and how Solitek is supporting European projects which are considering circular solar.

France’s National Institute for Solar Energy takes a look at the state of play in the European solar panel recycling industry.