A new report has called for large PV waste and recycling facilities to be established in major Australian cities as a matter of priority with solar waste predicted to reach 100,000 tonnes annually, equivalent to 1.2 GW per year, by the end of the decade.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Plus, details have been revealed of a 2 MW/2.5 MWh grid scale storage demo project in Switzerland and for a peer-to-peer renewable energy certificate marketplace in Southeast Asia.
In February, non-profit EU solar panel recycling body PV Cycle announced it had collected 5,000 tons of modules in France, of which 94.7% could be recycled. A reader asked us about the remaining 5.3% and here, PV Cycle’s communications manager, Bertrand Lempkowicz, responds.
Recovering silicon of the quality required for reuse in panels is at the heart of mitigating device carbon footprints. R&D efforts should be ramped up now, says an international research group, so the technology is in place when huge volumes of modules begin to need replacing.
The French non-governmental organization, which provides solar kits to refugee camps and disaster affected communities, won the energy category of the 12th Zayed Sustainability Prize. The award will bank Electriciens sans frontières $600,000.
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