solar recycling

The National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) program says in a new report that the UK solar industry could generate 1.2 million tons of waste by 2050. It calls for circular economy measures to meet net-zero and solar deployment targets.

European industry association PV Cycle estimates a 10 MW solar site will eventually produce 700 tons of waste material. It is becoming increasingly clear that PV modules need end-of-life protocols – for the technology and material processing, and the regulatory environment.

PV Cycle Belgium says it collected and processed 404 tons of solar panels for recycling during the first quarter of this year. It notes that the number of solar panels it has collected over the last five years has more than quadrupled.

The Japanese glass, material, and chemical manufacturer announced a successful test using recycled cover glass from solar panels in the manufacturing of float glass, with technology supplied by Tokuyama Corporation.

Feedback from stakeholders involved in Germany’s end-of-life PV modules treatment chain found more needs to be done around the transparency of PV module waste volume, the take-back and collection process and module recycling, as the country prepares for significantly larger volumes by the end of the decade.

Spain’s Iberdrola and FCC Ámbito have agreed to work together on the development of new circularity solutions for solar panels, to ensure that 100% of the materials in the modules can be recycled.

Solarcycle has invested $344 million in a solar manufacturing facility in Polk County, Georgia. The factory has been designed to use recycled materials from retired solar panels to produce new solar glass, positioning Solarcycle as one of the first manufacturers of specialized glass for crystalline-silicon PV in the US market.

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) has developed a recycling process for end-of-life PV modules, recovering silicon and silver, using supercritical CO2. Virginie Basini, head of CEA’s sustainable technologies department, discussed the technique with pv magazine France.

French eco-organization Soren, which collects and recycles end-of-life solar panels, has published its 2022 annual report. Last year, more than 10 million solar panels were put on the market in France, up 25% from 2021.

An international research group has examined the structural barriers to addressing the solar e-waste problem in the Global South. They argue that the focus should be on repairing devices, rather than recycling them.