What’s The Significance Of Photovoltaic Module Recycling ?

This article is an excerpt from the postgraduate paper "Sustainable Development of the Solar Energy Industry-Focus on the Recycling of Waste Photovoltaic Modules", a postgraduate paper on sustainable development at the University of Lyon III in France. The article provides an in-depth analysis and Research, the author Mr. He Shuangquan has been engaged in the photovoltaic manufacturing industry for more than ten years. He is currently the executive president of Wuxi Suntech Power Co., Ltd. and the executive director of Wuxi New Energy Chamber of Commerce. His insights are profound and wise. Food readers.

Since the on-grid benchmark tariff was introduced in 2014, the domestic installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation has grown rapidly, maintaining an average annual growth rate of more than 100%. At present, the cumulative installed capacity of domestic photovoltaic power generation has exceeded 200 GW. Will exceed 300GW.

With the rapid development of photovoltaic power generation, the problem of recycling and reuse of waste photovoltaic modules has also arisen. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), by 2030, the accumulated waste of photovoltaic modules worldwide will reach millions of tons; and by 2050, it will reach tens of millions of tons. According to the forecast of the Institute of Electrical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, starting from 2020, the waste of domestic photovoltaic modules will also increase significantly. By 2030, domestic waste photovoltaic modules can produce 1.45 million tons of carbon steel, 1.1 million tons of glass, and 540,000 tons of plastics. , 260,000 tons of aluminum, 170,000 tons of copper, 50,000 tons of silicon and 550 tons of silver.

The research results of the 863 project of the Ministry of Science and Technology show that even if the existing photovoltaic power plants are in good operation and maintenance, the domestic decommissioned photovoltaic modules will reach a cumulative scale of nearly 60GW by 2034; if the power plant operation and maintenance status is normal, the cumulative decommissioned components are likely to exceed 70GW. . According to Lu Fang, a member of the research team and secretary-general of the China Green Supply Chain Alliance Photovoltaic Special Committee, by 2050, China’s waste photovoltaic modules will reach 20 million tons, which is 2000 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower.

On the one hand, if these waste components are not handled properly, they will have a serious negative impact on the environment and society, making the original intention of “green” no longer “green”.

On the other hand, the new energy industry is the main connotation and important support of low-carbon development and green economy, and low-carbon development and green economy are the driving force of the new energy industry. When the price of waste photovoltaic modules left over by the development of the photovoltaic industry cannot be properly resolved, it will inevitably hinder the sustainable development of the photovoltaic industry.

The traditional development model based on resource and energy consumption poses increasingly severe challenges to the human living environment. Green development and the development and utilization of clean energy have become the main theme of the world’s development. In this process, the photovoltaic industry has played an important role. It will also play a greater historical role.

But at the same time, the large-scale application of photovoltaic power generation has led to the recycling of waste photovoltaic modules. Therefore, research on the recycling and reuse of decommissioned and used photovoltaic modules has very positive practical significance.

First of all, the recycling and reuse of waste photovoltaic modules is conducive to the reuse of resources.

The large-scale application of solar photovoltaic power generation technology will greatly increase the consumption of some rare metals. For example, the electrode preparation of crystalline silicon battery needs to consume silver, tellurium, indium, gallium and so on. These materials also have broad application prospects in other cutting-edge technology fields. If the photovoltaic modules are scrapped, the rare metals in them are not recycled, which will inevitably cause great waste.

According to a research conducted by the EU PV CYCLE organization, in waste photovoltaic modules, glass accounts for about 70% of the total weight, aluminum materials account for about 18%, and semiconductor materials account for about 4%.

In other words, most of the materials of photovoltaic modules have the possibility of recycling. Through the recycling and reuse of waste photovoltaic modules, the recycling of rare metals, glass, aluminum and semiconductors can be realized, so as to reduce the extraction of primary resources, reduce the energy consumption of resource extraction, and reduce the impact and damage to the ecological environment. Purpose.

Second, the recycling and reuse of waste photovoltaic modules can give birth to new industrial forms and create more employment value.

Judging from the current European waste photovoltaic module recycling process, the entire operation and management process of waste photovoltaic module processing includes collection, registration, transportation, recycling, and recycling. Each link requires a large number of personnel to participate, especially recycling. The link needs more professional recycling technicians. Therefore, the recycling of waste photovoltaic modules can give birth to new industrial forms and create more employment value.

Furthermore, the recycling and reuse of waste photovoltaic components is conducive to realizing the true greenness of photovoltaic power generation throughout its life cycle, thereby promoting the sustainable development of the solar energy industry.

Since the industrialization of photovoltaic power generation technology, governments and enterprises in various countries have actively committed to the green production and operation of photovoltaic power generation. So far, the industrial chain of crystalline silicon photovoltaic technology, from raw material production, cell manufacturing, module processing to system installation and operation, has achieved pollution-free and environmentally friendly requirements, but the random disposal of waste photovoltaic modules has spawned many environments. pollution problem.

New energy industry is the main connotation and important support of low-carbon development and green economy, while low-carbon development and green economy are the driving force of new energy industry, and the two complement each other. Therefore, only by doing a good job in the last link of the photovoltaic industry chain-the recycling of waste photovoltaic modules, can the photovoltaic industry be green and pollution-free from the source to the end, thereby promoting the sustainable development of the solar industry.