Three-year project yields new answer to solar panel recycling difficulties

A University of NSW team that has developed a new high-efficiency method offering “effective separation of 99 per cent” of materials in solar PV panels is seeking industry partners as it progresses the technique.

A statement from the university on Thursday describes the patented process as the product of three years of work. After removal from their frame and glass sheet and being crushed using high-abrasion separation and stainless steel balls as novel sieving aids, with sieving carried out in a vibrating container, component ingredients are recovered.

UNSW said about 5-15 minutes were required to  separate 99 per cent of the materials, with 99 per cent of silver able to be recovered.

Professor Yansong Shen, who leads the team from the ProMO lab, said the team was currently working with industry partners, but was seeking further collaborations as the process is scaled up to address a growing problem.

“PV panels usually last for around 20 or 25 years, so given the growth in domestic solar power since the 1990s we can see there is a very pressing and urgent problem to deal with those first generation of panels that are coming to their end-of-life,” said Shen.

“Putting solar panels into landfill is a big issue because there are a number of harmful metals in the panels that can pollute the soil and pollute the water. So for environmental reasons we also need to find a better way to recycle the panels.”

The team estimates that – based on International Renewable Energy Agency figures of up to 78 million tonnes of panel waste generated globally by 2050 and a recovery rate 0.64 kilograms per tonne of waste – it could recover between 5-50 million kilograms of silver using its method.

Within Australia alone, one estimate predicts 100,000 tonnes of disused solar panels will enter the waste stream by 2035.

Main picture: credit Canberra Times

Further reading

Reclaim PV, Tindo begin panel partnership on recycling

Australia is facing a 450,000-tonne mountain of used solar panels. Here’s how to turn it into a valuable asset