solar recycling

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 suppled 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.

The mature renewable energies are the most efficient power resources to slow down global warming and reduce human health impacts, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. The authors claim renewable energy generation capacity is also the best way to reduce land use, toxicity and drinking water depletion.

Research has found even short-lived, 10 to 15-year solar panels could provide enough return for bankable projects. The researchers believe panel costs, coupled with an industry mindset now fixed on the final solar energy price rather than costs per kilowatt installed, may open opportunities for PV products currently snubbed because of a short lifecycle.