Search Results for: recycling – Page 19

SiC Processing strikes deal to delay payments to major creditors until 28 February 2013.

Martier Solar’s expansion plans are slowly being realized with a 229kW PV solar system at Hertz’s global headquarters in Park Ridge, New Jersey, US. This is one of a series of approximately 15 PV systems designed and installed at Hertz facilities around the US. The array is expected to produce more than 263,000kWh of renewable energy on an annual basis.

According to Solarbuzz’s “Polysilicon and Wafer Supply Chain Quarterly Report,” polysilicon prices are expected to fall 48% while wafer prices drop 56% year-over-year in 2012; results which have so far led to only 12 Chinese PV polysilicon manufactures still producing, and of those, more than half running at reduced utilization rates.

Profitability remains tantalizingly elusive at Suntech Power Holdings, having reported a first quarter GAAP loss of US$133 million on the back of certain one-time issues, 27% lower quarterly shipments and 10% price declines. Although management stuck to previous guidance for the year, indicating strong shipments in the second-half of the year, analysts raised concerns over Suntech’s ability to repay a US$540 million convertible note due next year.

Solar-grade silicon (SoG-Si) based on metallurgical refining processes, often called upgraded metallurgical-grade silicon (UMG-Si), is expected to play an important role in achieving the solar industry’s necessary cost targets per Wp in order to compete with other energy sources. The broad term ‘UMG-Si’ currently embraces types of silicon feedstock that differ quite substantially in product quality and performance. This paper presents a summary of the work carried out by Elkem on low-cost production of silicon feedstock via a flexible, recycling metallurgical processing route with the lowest carbon footprint on the market. Results are given that qualify Elkem Solar Silicon® (ESS™) as a SoG-Si, with comparable efficiencies to polysilicon (poly-Si) from the traditional Siemens process. The latest results on the performance of modules based on ESS are reported. An indication of the stability of older modules based on SoG-Si feedstock from Elkem is also considered. On the basis of the results, there is no reason to expect modules based on ESS to differ from other commercial modules based on poly-Si. ESS is therefore shown to be a viable alternative to conventional poly-Si, but with the additional benefit of lowering specific energy use and cost per Wp.

How much carbon is emitted in producing a solar PV module and launching it on the market? This could be an important question which project developers, installers, investors, government agencies and end customers will ask solar PV manufacturers in the future.

The improved performance and reduced manufacturing costs of photovoltaic (PV) modules that have been achieved in recent years have positioned this technology as an economically attractive renewable electric energy source. In order to verify that this also has a positive impact on energy payback time (EPBT) and carbon footprint, the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) has conducted a life cycle analysis (LCA) for REC Peak Energy-series PV modules produced by Renewable Energy Corporation (REC). The LCA study was based on a full set of actual production data obtained for the first quarter of 2011 from REC’s manufacturing sites. Because REC is an integrated manufacturer, the LCA study includes internal data for the production steps from polysilicon production to module assembly, as well as for all materials and transportation associated with production. ECN used generic figures for installation, operations and recycling together with the REC data to assess the environmental impact indicators. For polysilicon produced in the USA, and for wafers, cells and modules produced in Singapore, an EPBT of 1.2 years was achieved, with a corresponding carbon footprint of 21g CO2-eq/kWh for PV systems located in southern Europe (1700kWh/m2year irradiation). For modules with wafers and cells produced in Norway, the corresponding values were 1.1 years and 18g CO2-eq/kWh. A key contributor in achieving these values is REC’s highly efficient fluidized bed reactor (FBR) process for the production of polysilicon.

Industrial wastewater treatment (IWT) system manufacturer Saita srl has successfully installed an IWT for an unnamed Belgian solar cell manufacturer. This installation, which claims to recycle 97% of the wastewater used in the multicrystalline cell manufacturing process, marks the second such system installed by Saita, and the Italian company has set its sights on expanding the uptake of such systems across the PV manufacturing industry.

Japan-based Tanaka Precious Metals has taken-out licenses from the National Central University, Taiwan to manufacture and supply ruthenium-based dye compounds for next generation dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The ruthenium complex dye was developed by Professor Chun-Guey Wu and post-doctoral researcher, Chia-Yuan Chen, with reported conversion efficiencies of 11.4%, reported in the scientific journal, ACS nano in 2009, operating in the visible light wavelength range of approximately 400 to 750 nanometers.

How much carbon is emitted in producing a solar PV module and launching it on the market? This could be an important question which project developers, installers, investors, government agencies and end customers might ask solar PV manufacturers in the future. To answer it, producers need to know the direct emissions from the manufacturing process, as well as those generated from the activities of manufacturers in the upstream supply chain (including raw material acquisition, upstream energy use, packaging, transportation and procurement), and also those arising from module usage and eventual recycling. This paper, written in a cooperation between EuPD Research and Deutsches CleanTech Institut (DCTI), presents an overview of PV’s carbon footprint.