PV Tech Premium talks to Solarcycle’s co-founders about their company’s unique ability to extract every single constituent material out of an end-of-life PV module, how solar panels are not lasting as long as people expected, the race to prevent solar waste being illegally dumped across the globe, and how modules can have a useful second life.
Danish renewables developer Ørsted has signed a recycling partnership agreement with Solarcycle to process and recycle the entirety of the modules in their US portfolio.
AES Corporation has signed a Recycling Services Agreement with US solar recycling company Solarcycle, which will see modules from AES’ projects sent to Solarcycle’s Texas facility to be recycled and repurposed.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced US$52 million in financing for research and development (R&D) into domestic solar manufacturing and recycling, including a focus on new technologies.
The state government of Queensland has issued a draft proposal to ban the dumping of solar modules in landfill, instead encouraging a recycling programme to repurpose the materials.
The cost-effectiveness of solar panels as well as new technology that allows households to sell surplus power to the grid will both be explored under two separate initiatives announced by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
Further study is needed to reduce the recycling costs and environmental impact of used solar panels, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Solar to continue rapid rise over this decade but lack of foresight with grid planning could mix with ultra-low prices and waste management troubles to set obstacles in the short and long term.
Italian media are reporting arrests have been made after a probe launched into how a huge number of solar panels earmarked for recycling were subsequently re-labelled and sold to some unspecified African countries.
PV Tech caught up with Lou Trippel, vice president of Product Management at US-based thin-film solar manufacturer and developer First Solar, to discuss how the company’s new Series 6 module has been received, sustainability gains from the transition and even the firm’s consideration of recycling capabilities beyond its thin-film remit.
