Strategy and technology to recycle wafer-silicon solar modules
By Huang, Wen-Hsi; Shin, Woo Jung; Wang, Laidong; Sun, Wen-Cheng; Tao, Meng
Published in Solar Energy
2017
Abstract
Abstract A major obstacle to sustainable solar technologies is end-of-life solar modules. In this paper, a recycling process is proposed for wafer-Si modules. It is a three-step process to break down Si modules and recover various materials, leaving behind almost nothing for landfill. Two new technologies are demonstrated to enable the proposed recycling process. One is sequential electrowinning which allows multiple metals to be recovered one by one from Si modules, Ag, Pb, Sn and Cu. The other is sheet resistance monitoring which maximizes the amount of solar-grade Si recovered from Si modules. The purity of the recovered metals is above 99% and the recovered Si meets the specifications for solar-grade Si. The recovered Si and metals are new feedstocks to the solar industry and generate $11