The cadmium telluride refiner and major supplier to First Solar, 5N Plus is diversifying into solar module recycling, according to a Wall Street Journal article. The company is setting up in a rented facility the system required initially to handle coated soda-lime glass and later the ability to recycle fully laminated modules. The new business is not connected to First Solar’s CdTe modules, according to the story, which quoted a First Solar spokesperson.
5N Plus executives had noted in its most recent quarterly conference call that it was looking at further business opportunities and potential acquisitions to grow the company in related fields to its current main refining and recycling businesses.
The company was expecting to extract 7.5 tons of tellurium dioxide from the recycled modules in the first year of the project being started.
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