In February, PV Cycle, a non-profit EU solar panel recycling agency, announced that 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%. Here, Bertrand Lempkowicz, communications manager of PV Cycle, responded.
Nearly perfect panel recycling technology has been developed, but there is still a lack of business models.
Last year, France collected 5,000 tons of solar modules for recycling. PV Cycle, a panel recycling agency funded by the European Union, predicts that by 2030, this number may reach 50,000 tons. As of the end of 2018, the organization had collected more than 27,000 metric tons of modules across Europe, demonstrating that solar waste management and the recycling of panels with a lifespan of 25 years are essential.
According to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, which was extended to solar products in 2012, EU regulations require 85% collection and 80% recycling of materials used in photovoltaic panels.
According to PV Cycle, the recovery rate of crystalline silicon-based photovoltaic modules is 94.7%, which has exceeded these levels. The factory to achieve this goal is located in Roussé in the Rhône Valley region of France. The facility is operated by Veolia and is said to be the first of its kind.
Solar panels are made of aluminum, glass, plastic, copper, silver, and silicon, and are cut and crushed after removing the frame, cables and junction boxes. The components are separated and sent to a separate recovery stream.
Bertrand Lempkowicz, communications manager of PV Cycle, told French Photovoltaic Magazine: “95% is a special recycling figure, especially for multi-component products.” “Only soda cans can claim to be better, but they also do not reach 100%. Washing machines. The recovery rate will not be close to 70%. Everyone has one, but no one cares."
5.3% What about unrecycled solar panel components?
Lempkowicz said: "The non-recyclable materials are mainly dust left in the filter after crushing." "They are not counted [as part of the solar panel], but these filters will also be recycled. Dust can also be incinerated or in buildings It is used as a substitute for sand because glass, silicon and silicone resin are all derived from sand.
"The back sheet-the vinyl sheet used to isolate the components on the back of the panel-will be energy recovered. EVA [ethyl vinyl acetate] or tedlar [for the back sheet] can be used as an adhesive for paint, but this requires Clean. In fact, burning it (in a filter incinerator) is more environmentally friendly than using a lot of water to clean it"-thus proving the cross-sectoral nature of solar cell module recycling.
Although the panel can now be upgraded by nearly 95% technically, it is still difficult to find a business model that supports operations. At present, the number of panels waiting to be recycled is still very small, which makes the process temporarily unsustainable. “PV modules are relatively new products, and their first installations have not yet reached the end of their life cycle,” Lempkowicz said, adding: “The current waste is mainly due to breakage. However, these quantities will be in about ten years. Later is higher."
In order to solve technical and economic problems, European-funded projects such as Circusol (a circular business model for the solar industry) and Cabriss (implementation of a circular economy based on recycling, reuse and recycling of indium, silicon and silver materials for photovoltaic applications) Established to standardize the value chain of reuse, repair and remanufacturing in the photovoltaic industry.
David Pelletier is the project leader of the National Institute of Solar Energy (INES) of the French Government Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). Luc Federzoni is responsible for the latter's strategic plan. Both parties agreed to strengthen the importance of eco-design in the photovoltaic industry, predict the remanufacturing or recycling of next-generation modules in advance, and create 100% recyclable batteries and panels.
The July edition of Photovoltaic Magazine focuses on recycling manufacturing, a large part of which involves recycling, although as mentioned earlier, reuse, repair, remanufacturing and reuse are expected to play a key role in the future. They stated that Pelletier and Federzoni hope to develop a circular economy model based on photovoltaic waste manufacturing and end-of-life components for reuse in the solar energy industry or other industrial fields.
"We managed to develop all the technologies needed to separate, purify, and recycle photovoltaic waste manufacturing and end-of-life components," said the duo. This is achieved by using a non-thermal process to open the module to recover the material. However, the two admitted that it is currently “difficult” to find a profitable business model while the amount of recycling is still small.
Although the European Union is the only region that has adopted a clear regulatory framework to support the recycling of photovoltaic modules, in view of the imminent amount of waste and the continuous pace of photovoltaic deployment, other regions, including the United States, Australia and Asia, are increasing their activities.
A report released by the International Energy Agency's Photovoltaic Power System Plan in January 2018-Photovoltaic Panel Scrap Management: Trends in Photovoltaic Module Recycling Technology-reported that 178 photovoltaic recycling patents have been applied for. Of these, 128 focused on crystalline silicon (c-Si) technology, and 44 focused on composite technologies, including thin-film modules. Almost half of the patents came from China, although there was an increase in activity in Korea and Japan at the time.
Find more information on this topic in our next UP Initiative quarterly theme, which will focus on photovoltaic module recycling. Send an email to up@pv-magazine.com for more details.
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I don't understand why burning polymers with oxygen is considered "recycling" in a non-cynic sense. In addition, it is very important to distinguish between "recycling" and "downgrade". There is no economical technology for recyclable photovoltaic modules (so far), such as producing glass with the purity required to re-manufacture solar panels (the only exception may be aluminum frames). On the contrary, products with low purity (=low value) of glass insulation wool or similar materials are the result of degraded recycling. However, only recycling can realize the ecological circular economy.
94+% is impressive... The sad part is the backplane... In addition to its electrical insulation properties, it should be easily replaced by other materials... It is covered by many "green materials", not the space age Science/Technology... Isn’t it... PV manufacturers must "sharp their pencils" to support 100% recyclability... If the PV industry fails to achieve its "nobleness", it would be a shameful goal" because "completely The "green" backplane is loose or unable to absorb some additional costs...
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