PV recycling:FAST literature reviews

Background[edit | edit source]

This page aims to review the cost of PV recycling, the value of the materials pulled from the panel, and the difference if we recycle the materials to something useful.

Search terms[edit | edit source]

• costs of recycling solar panels per W
• costs of recycling solar panels per Kg
• costs of recycling solar panels per panel

Literature[edit | edit source]

A comprehensive review on the recycling technology of silicon based photovoltaic solar panels: Challenges and future outlook^[1][edit | edit source]

• global market share of PV panels: from 3.5% to 5.7% from 2015 to 2017
• solar panel production from 10,000 tons to 80,000 tons by the end of 2040
• e-waste from silicon PV panels: 60 to 78 million tons by 2050
• IRENA: 2016: waste volume of 250,000 metric tons of solar PV panel, 2030: 8 million tons
• From 90.27 kg of PV modules, 7.98 kg metal part, equal to 8% of each panel.
• high-voltage pulse method for recycling PV panels: 0.0019 $/W
• Private cost and external cost for recycling crystalline silicon PV panels: $6.72/m2 and $5.71/m2.
• The economic value of valuable metals in the panels: $13.62/m2 --> profit of $1.19 per 1 m2 of recycled crystalline silicon PV panels.
• total revenue generated from selling the recovered valuable materials: 46% aluminium, 25% silver, 15% glass, 11% silicon, and 3% copper.
• A 25% increase in the recovery rate of silver: raise revenue to $16.22/m2
• 11% of the $13.62/m2: from the silicon extracted from the solar panel --> equal to $1.5/m2
• The PV recycling industry value: US$ 450 million by 2030, US$ 15 billion by 2050
• The total cost of PV recycling: sum of private and external costs minus benefits
• private cost: investment, process, and transport
• External costs: environmental damage from pollutants during recycling and transportation vehicles
• 375 kg of waste--> generated in the recycling for every 1000 kg of solar panels
• The private and external cost of virgin materials from earth: USD 90/m2
• The recycling cost, covering all expenses: $12.43/m2
• SENS' facilities in Germany: recovering 80–90% of silicon from PV panel waste
• Czech Republic: material reuse (80%) and recycling (70%)--> landfill percentages to below 20%
• challenge: The cost of recycling silicon PV panels ~ $600–1000 per ton.,

Where solar panels go when they die^[2][edit | edit source]

• Silicon, copper, silver, aluminum, small amount of lead.
• Now, 10% is recycled.
• Recycling steps:

1- Pop off the frame

2- Put the laminate in a shredder to grind down to sand size

3- Electromagnetic processes to separate the valuable metals

• The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that it can cost between $15 and $45 to recycle a panel.

Solar Photovoltaic Module Recycling: A Survey of U.S. Policies and Initiatives^[3][edit | edit source]

• NERL: Recycling one solar panel costs $15 to $45—significantly more than the $1 to $5 per-panel cost of sending it to a landfill.

To Save Solar Panels From Landfills, Startup Is Smashing Them Instead^[4][edit | edit source]

• The market for recycled materials may reach $2.7 billion a year by 2030, and $80 billion by 2050
• Taking the time and effort to sort through them, bash them into pieces and then collect any materials with value can cost anywhere from $10 to $50 per panel.

Scientists found a solution to recycle solar panels in your kitchen^[5][edit | edit source]

• Al frame and glass make up about 80 wt% of the solar panel.
• Currently, 15% is recycled, the goal is 90-95%.
• Recycling one panel costs about $20 to $30.
• The recovered materials are worth about $3.
• They could probably be worth $11 or $12 per panel if they are recycled properly.
• Delamination is an expensive process; they suggest that microwave treatment, heated blade, or infrared lamp can be a solution.

Renewable Solar Comes with Recurring Waste Costs^[6][edit | edit source]

• Disposal costs are around $5 per panel, for hazardous waste landfills.
• Disposal costs are around $1 to $2 per panel, for municipal solid waste landfills.
• Recycling costs $20 to $30 per panel and recovers materials worth only $3 to $12, leaving a net cost $8 to $27—up to 13 times the cost of landfilling. Multiplied by 5 million panels, and that’s as much as $135 million per year for disposal.

Solar Panels Should Be Reused and Recycled. Here’s How.^[7][edit | edit source]

• Only 10% of solar photovoltaic, or PV, panels are recycled today in the US
• Washington, New Jersey, North Carolina, and California have regulated rules to the solar panels recycling.
• In the EU recycling costs $0.75 per panel with 95% solar recycling rates.

A Circular Economy for Solar Photovoltaic System Materials: Drivers, Barriers, Enablers, and U.S. Policy Considerations^[8][edit | edit source]

• The cost of module recycling in the United States ranges from $15-45 per module.
• Disposal tipping fees at a nonhazardous landfill ($26/U.S. ton) can cost less than $1 per module and less than $5 per module at hazardous waste landfills ($175/U.S. ton).
• Less than 10% of modules being recycled in the United States

Recycling ‘end-of-life’ solar panels, wind turbines, is about to be climate tech’s big waste business^[9][edit | edit source]

• Rystad Energy stated recycled solar panel materials will be worth more than $2.7 billion in 2030, up from only $170 million last year, and accelerate to around $80 billion by 2050.

The Solar Boom Will Create Millions of Tons of Junk Panels^[10][edit | edit source]

• The global volume of solar-panel waste generated annually will rise from 30,000 metric tons in 2021 to more than 1 million tons in 2035 and more than 10 million tons in 2050

Reduce, reuse: Solar PV recycling market to be worth $2.7 billion by 2030^[11][edit | edit source]

• recyclable materials from PV panels at the end of their lifespan will be worth more than $2.7 billion in 2030, up from only $170 million this year. This trend will only accelerate in the coming decades and the value of recyclable materials is projected to approach $80 billion by 2050

Breaking Down the Cost of an EV Battery Cell^[12][edit | edit source]

• Anode in lithium ion batteries makes up 12% of the lithium ion batteries cost.

Lithium-Ion Battery Pack Prices Hit Record Low of $139/kWh^[13][14][edit | edit source]

• The price of lithium-ion battery packs is $139/kWh
• The cost of anode will be equal to $16.7/kWh

A critical review of the circular economy for lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic modules – status, challenges, and opportunities^[15][edit | edit source]

• photovoltaic in the US --> 1 TW by 2050

Design and optimisation of rotary vibrating screening process in silicon photovoltaic panel recycling: A particle-scale model study^[16][edit | edit source]

• 80% of the solar panels---> valuable materials ---> Al frame, silicon, glass, and metals attached to the solar cells --> Ag, Cu, Pb, Al

Recovery and analysis of valuable materials from a discarded crystalline silicon solar module^[17][edit | edit source]

• estimated economic value of 15 billion US dollars through recycling by 2050
• 250-W panel --> 19 kg --> silicon (572.64 g), copper (126.54 g), silver (7.20 g), and lead (4.02 g)
• silicon, silver, copper, lead and tin -->not recovered--> why? low amounts in c-Si panels, separation and purification --> requirement of chemicals and exhaustive systems --> result: they go to landfield
• material recovery rates --> (aluminium (73.7%, US$0.047), glass (14.3%, US$0.241)), silicon (4.6%, US$0.015), silver (5.2%, US$0.017), copper (2.1%, US$0.007) --> total: US$ 0.327 per module, panel type 2.5 W of size 13.5 cm × 20.1 cm × 1.8 cm, US$ 12.05 per m2 in real study (predicted US$ 13.2/m2)

Solar Panels Face Recycling Challenge^[18][edit | edit source]

FRELP (Full Recovery End of Life Photovoltaic) --> Costs €2 million ($2.3 million) --> recycles 5,000 tonnes panels/year.

99% pure silicon --> $4/Kg, 99.9999% Si (6N) --> Costs 8 times more (at least)