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.
The first of these IWT systems was built in 2008 for an unnamed Italian solar cell manufacturer that has an annual production capacity of 60MW. The system consists of a closed-loop circuit that treats the acid and alkaline wastewater streams to yield high-quality water for use in chemical wet bench applications, and produces an inert solid sludge as a waste product. The closed-loop system collects and treats both the water from the production process and the water from utility equipment, thus enabling the IWT to achieve recycling levels of 97% of the entire water needs of a solar cell manufacturing plant.
“We all, as [a] company, are very satisfied with the results obtained with this second IWT installation in our Belgian customers; SAITA has shown that the zero discharge philosophy is feasible to all conditions, countries and plant capacity”, commented Saita CEO Ferdinando Martini. “Scepticism and doubts [about] our system have been demonstrated, by facts, to be untrue”.
Saita has plans to up its intake in the PV industry, specifically the Asian market. The company is redoubling its R&D efforts to improve the system’s performance, promoting the concept of zero discharge as an environmentally friendly technology and also making its system applicable for thin-film technologies.
