South Korea moves forward with long-expected solar panel recycling scheme
South Korea’s new provisions establish a standardized collection system for each of the country’s major regions, in order to ensure a waste panel recycling/reuse rate of more than 80%.
Itochu to start recycling solar modules
Japan’s Itochu has announced a new tie-up with France’s Rosi Solar, which develops tech to recover and recycle high-purity silver, copper and silicon from solar modules.
Microwave heating for glass separation in end-of-life solar modules
Scientists in Thailand have used microwaves to separate broken glass from PV panels. The process can be performed at temperatures ranging from 45 C to 55 C.
New industrial plant concept for end-of-life PV panel recycling
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.
French consortium commissions solar module recycling facility
Soren and Envie 2E Aquitaine have inaugurated a new solar module recycling facility in Saint-Loubès, France.
Solarwatt obtains ‘cradle-to-cradle’ certification for its glass-glass solar modules
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
Maxeon partners with Reclaim PV to save panels from landfill in Australia
Solar manufacturer Maxeon Solar Technologies has teamed with Adelaide-headquartered solar panel collection and recycling company Reclaim PV Recycling to recover and recycle SunPower branded solar panels in Australia.
Upcycling silicon waste from end-of-life solar panels into thermoelectrics
Researchers in Singapore have developed a new technique in which polycrystalline silicon is pulverized into powder and pelletized into ingots. The process relies on spark plasma sintering to dope the silicon with germanium and phosphorus.
About one-third of disused PV panels fit for reuse, says Australian consortium
Reclaim PV Recycling and the Circular PV Alliance (CPVA) have have agreed to jointly develop standards and testing procedures to support the reuse and resale of solar panels in Australia. Reclaim PV recently discovered that more than 31% of the solar panels collected in the Australian state of Queensland could be considered for reuse, rather than recycling.
Roadmap for solar module recycling in Bangladesh
Bangladesh currently does not have a recycling center for PV module recycling. But according to a group of local scientists, the country could evolve into a regional hub for PV waste recycling if proper guidelines are implemented.
