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INNOVATIVE RECYCLING OF END OF LIFE SILICON PV PANELS: RESIELP

  • Pietrogiovanni Cerchier - Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Italy
  • Katya Brunelli - Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Italy
  • Luca Pezzato - Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Italy
  • Claire Audoin - University Grenoble Alpes, France
  • Jean Patrice Rakotoniaina - University Grenoble Alpes, France
  • Teresa Sessa - Relight srl, Italy
  • Marco Tammaro - ENEA, Italy
  • Gianpaolo Sabia - ENEA, Italy
  • Agnese Attanasio - CETMA, Italy
  • Chiara Forte - ITO srl, Italy
  • Alessio Nisi - ITO srl, Italy
  • Harald Suitner - PROJEKTkompetenz.eu GmbH, Austria
  • Manuele Dabalà - Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Italy

DOI 10.31025/2611-4135/2021.15118

Released under CC BY-NC-ND

Copyright: © 2020 CISA Publisher

Abstract

In Europe, an increasing amount of End of Life (EoL) photovoltaic silicon (PV) panels is expected to be collected in the next 20 years. The silicon PV modules represent a new type of electronic waste that shows challenges and opportunities. ReSiELP was a European project that aimed at recovery of valuable materials (aluminum, glass, copper, silicon, and silver) from EoL silicon PV modules. During the project a pilot plant, constituted by a furnace, a gas abatement system, an apparatus for the mechanical separation and a hydrometallurgical plant was designed and built. The pilot plan was realized to upscale recycling technology to TRL 7, with a 1500 panels/year capacity. The feasibility of industrial-scale recovery and the reintegration of all recovered materials in their appropriate value chain was investigated. The results obtained showed that 2N purity silicon and 2N purity silver can be recovered with high efficiency. In order to realize a zero-waste plant, a hydrometallurgical process was developed for the wastewater treatment. Moreover, the use of recovered glass for building materials was investigated and the obtained performance seemed comparable with commercial products.

Keywords

Editorial History

  • Received: 30 Sep 2020
  • Revised: 16 Apr 2021
  • Accepted: 23 Jun 2021
  • Available online: 30 Sep 2021

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