Recycling technology of end-of-life photovoltaic panels: a review

ABSTRACT

Photovoltaic technology is an emerging renewable energy which is expected to shift from traditional fossil energy to renewable and clean energy. The new installed capacity of photovoltaic technology with 39% share is higher than wind with 33% share in 2020. The service life arrival of photovoltaic panels will generate a large amount of solid waste. It is estimated that the amount will reach 1,957,099 tons by 2038. The recycling of photovoltaic panels is the key to realizing waste treatment and utilization of resources. This paper reviewed the recycling technology of end-of-life photovoltaic panels, including the development, types and structure of photovoltaic panels, the removal of EVA, the separation of various components, the removal and extraction of metals, and the purification of Si wafers. In addition, the recycling process of photovoltaic panels was summarized, and the performance of recycled Si wafers was compared, the energy transfer efficiency is about 16%. The types and compositions of photovoltaic panels are constantly changing, and Si wafers and metal components can be enriched in −1 mm by crushing, the crushing separation technology is more suitable for the long-term recycling of photovoltaic panels.

KEYWORDS:

• End-of-life
• recycling
• crushing
• photovoltaic panels
• EVA removal

Highlights

• The recovery process of photovoltaic panels was summarized.

• The development of photovoltaic technology was reviewed.

• The liberation of various components of photovoltaic panels was researched.

• The recycling technology of semiconductor components was reviewed.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support by the National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFC2905900), the Innovative Funds Plan of Henan University of Technology (NO.2022ZKCJ09), Natural Science Projects of Henan University of Technology (31401539), the National Nature Science Foundation of China (52004282, U2003126) and the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities (2021YCPY0108).

Disclosure statement

☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

☐The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Guanghui Yan

Guanghui Yan, Lecture, Henan University of Technology, mainly engaged in the research of solid waste resycling.

Mingrui Zhang

Mingrui Zhang, master, China University of Mining and Technology. Mainly engaged in the research of coal clean technology.

Zongsheng Sun

Zongsheng Sun, PhD, China University of Mining and Technology. mainly engaged in the research of coal dewatering.

Pengfei Zhao

Pengfei Zhao,PhD, China University of Mining and Technology. mainly engaged in the research of fluidized dry separation.

Bo Zhang

Bo Zhang, Prof, China University of Mining and Technology. mainly engaged in the research of coal dry separation, coal dewatering, utilization of solid waste.