solar waste

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.

An Indian research group has used three different chemicals instead of commonly used hydrofluoric acid to separate silicon from the cell. The technique is claimed to be able to deliver recycled silicon with a purity of up to 99.9984%.

Developed by the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), the “non-destructive” technology is claimed to enable the recovery of 100% of a module’s glass and to allow the reuse of silicon for producing new solar cells with an efficiency of 20.05%.

A €4.8 million EU-funded research project is aiming to develop a process that allows recovering all components of a photovoltaic module.

The Department of Science & Technology (DST) under India’s Ministry Of Science & Technology seeks to fund promising R&D projects in solar panel and battery storage waste disposal and recycling. Call for proposals closes on November 15.

Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi have taken a close look at the potential impact of growing volumes of PV waste and conducted surveys which suggest a lot more work is needed from manufacturers and policymakers to develop management systems for end-of-life PV products.

Opinion is divided over the urgency of addressing the issue. While some developers feel the 25-year lifetime of modules offers plenty of time to prepare an action plan, other industry voices claim Indian-made products don’t last half that long and one recent report pointed out waste is already piling up thanks to defects and faulty installation.

As the nation aims for 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022 it is staring at up to 1.8 million tons of PV waste by 2050. A solar waste management seminar organized by consultancy Bridge To India in New Delhi brought stakeholders together to discuss how a PV waste management system could help.