The service life of solar panels is 20 to 30 years. With the great development of the global solar energy manufacturing industry, there will be a wave of "scrappy" of photovoltaic panels all over the world. According to relevant statistics, by 2050, waste photovoltaic modules will even reach 80 million tons. Therefore, it is very important to strengthen the recycling of waste photovoltaic modules.
According to statistics, in 2021, China's new photovoltaic power generation grid-connected installed capacity will be about 53 million kilowatts (ie 53GW), ranking first in the world for nine consecutive years. By the end of 2021, the installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation on the grid will reach 306 million kilowatts, breaking the 300 million kilowatt mark, ranking first in the world for seven consecutive years, achieving the world's largest market size, technology level, and enterprise strength. The production scale is the first in the world.
The PV supply chain includes recycling from silicon material purification, ingot pulling, slicing, cells and auxiliary materials, modules, balance components and system integration, application and decommissioning. In recent years, with the transformation of photovoltaics to the mode of "green manufacturing" and "green manufacturing", China has fully implemented a green and low-carbon mode in the stages of material acquisition, processing, packaging, warehousing, transportation, and use, while recycling after decommissioning and scrapping No matter from technical research, standard formulation, market cultivation, industrial development to business model, it is still just in its infancy, and it has become the last key link in opening up the entire green supply chain of photovoltaics.
Recycling peak will come earlier
At present, there are three mainstream treatment methods for solid waste utilization of waste photovoltaic modules: one is to downgrade or use after repair; the other is to remove the frame and junction box and use it as filler in the construction field or as garbage incineration; the third is to recycle and reuse . Among them, the recycling of waste photovoltaic modules is regarded as the most scientific and effective method.
The global photovoltaic recycling industry has huge market potential. The International Energy Agency predicts that by 2050, there will be nearly 80 million tons and about 4.3 billion pieces of scrapped photovoltaic modules in the world. Since materials such as glass, aluminum, silicon, and rare elements such as silver and indium can be recycled, recycling will also generate a market value of about $15 billion. The China Photovoltaic Industry Association predicts that China will recycle 1.5 million tons of end-of-life modules by 2030 and 20 million tons by 2050.
It is understood that in photovoltaic modules, glass accounts for about 70%, aluminum materials account for 18%, silicon materials account for 3.5%, non-ferrous metal copper accounts for about 1.5%, rare metals account for about 1%, and adhesive sealants account for 6%.
"Most of the materials of waste photovoltaic modules can be recycled and reused. It can be said that with the arrival of the large-scale "scraping tide" of photovoltaic modules, how to recycle and dispose of waste modules in an environmentally friendly manner has become an industry problem that needs to be solved urgently."
In recent years, facing the severe situation and at the same time in response to the arrival of the "scraping tide", all countries are taking active actions.
In 2007, the EU established a photovoltaic waste recycling organization "PV Cycle" in Brussels, and in 2014, photovoltaic modules were included in the EU's "Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive WEEE"; the United States, Japan and other countries have begun recycling tests and demonstrations; Green manufacturing at home and abroad In the specifications, such as the green manufacturing system of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, the US EPEAT, the EU ECOLABLE and other systems all contain recycling indicators.
Although progress has been made in stages, countries are still facing considerable pressure in the face of the upcoming huge recycling demand and market growth.
