PV module recycling

Silicon-perovskite tandem solar requires optimization of both approaches, and embodies the weaknesses of each. Meanwhile, the use of pure thin-film devices offers a cheaper, simpler, and more sustainable PV solution for the United States.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales have rejected suggestions that end-of-life solar panels could create a “waste mountain” in Australia, saying instead that they could serve as valuable material reservoirs for future production.

Solar panel waste will not be a problem because there is so little of it. However, there is a short-term problem in some places because panel deployment is growing fast and recycling is playing catch up.

PV module importers in the Netherlands saw the solar module recycling fee increase from €6.50 ($6.8) per ton to €40 per ton in July. In a chat with pv magazine, Jan-Willem Jehee, operations manager at Stichting Zonne-energie Recycling Nederland (ZRN), explains the money generated from the fee hike will be used to finance a guarantee fund that would ‘absorb shocks in the market should one occur.’

A research group in the United States has developed a process to recover lead in its metallic form so that it can be reused in the PV industry. The process relies on a leaching solution based on a combination of acetic acid (CH3COOH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which the researchers said leaches the lead ‘in a matter of minutes.’

Scientists in China have proposed to use recycled silicon from discarded solar cells to build anodes for batteries. They combined the recycled waste silicon powder with graphite and created a composite material that is claimed to exhibit remarkable electrochemical performance.

Dutch importers that sell solar panels to clients in the Netherlands will have to pay a recycling charge of €40 ($42.50) per ton from July 1. They currently pay just €6.50 per ton.

Hopefuls from 40 different countries submitted entries to the pv magazine Awards in 2022, with more regions represented than ever before. This reflects the industry’s increasing global relevance and the importance all regions are placing on local innovation and production. Here we present the seven winners, who will be honored once again in a live Award ceremony on Jan. 17th, staged alongside the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi and as part of the 11th MESIA Solar Awards Ceremony.

Italian startup Tialpi is developing a process to recycle end-of-life solar panels that promises to recover 100% of a PV module’s weight. The new plant design is currently being tested at the company’s facility in the Italian northern province of Biella.

The ‘cradle-to-cradle’ certification is considered a globally recognized holistic product quality standard. The assessment is made for five categories: material health, recyclability of materials, energy management and CO2 emissions, water management and social responsibility