PV module recycling

The recovery of valuable raw materials from end-of-life solar panels and batteries presents a great opportunity for India to secure future supplies as the nation chases its ambitious renewable energy targets.

NREL researchers said a profitable and sustainable solar panel recycling industry could establish itself by 2032. Here’s how the numbers work.

Analysts at the US research institite modeled PV recycling strategies and found that current incentives are not well-aligned to drive recycling.

India’s solar capacity growth up to 2030 also means the accumulation of a significant amount of PV module waste due to early failures or damage during transportation, installation, and operation. The waste generation could be 21 kilotons, assuming India’s cumulative installed PV capacity grows to 287.4 GW by 2030, from 40 GW in 2020. This doesn’t include end-of-life panel waste, as PV systems installed in the 2020-30 period are assumed to have at least 30 years of lifetime.

Brazilan PV module recycling specialist SunR has already recycled 30 tons of panels and expects to receive another 125 tons. According to its CEO, demand for recycled panels, especially broken panels, has increased considerably in recent years.

Developed by the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), the “non-destructive” technology is claimed to enable the recovery of 100% of a module’s glass and to allow the reuse of silicon for producing new solar cells with an efficiency of 20.05%.

Next Energy and Marubeni are developing a blockchain tech for PV module inspection – with the support of the Japanese government – which they claim is able to provide data on a panel’s traceability and components as well as verifying that the data were not modified or tampered with.

Proper recycling strategies for perovskite modules could ensure sustainability and improve energy payback times, according to US researchers. They claim that the best recycled perovskite cell architecture could produce an energy payback time of about one month, versus 1.3 to 2.4 years for crystalline silicon modules.

Researchers led by the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi have projected the waste expected from end-of-life solar panels and related components. They assumed 347.5 GW of total installed solar generation capacity would be reached this decade. The academics said the waste would include critical metals worth around $645 trillion, 70% of which could be recovered.

A new report compares the regulatory frameworks of the European Union and India to manage end-of-life solar panels. It also assesses and analyzes the PV waste market and processing capacities in India, while sharing recommendations for Indian stakeholders.