Europe | Some of the world’s top solar power companies have teamed up to launch the first large-scale panel recycling system in Europe. By acting now, the new industry association known as PV Cycle hopes to avoid the introduction of potentially unfavourable and costly European regulation at a later date.
PV Cycle embraces some 17 solar companies including Q-Cells, SolarWorld, Sharp, Kyocera and First Solar, as well as German solar industry association BSW and the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA). Its goal is to set up a voluntary take-back system for solar modules by the end of 2008. ‘We will be the first in Europe to establish such a system,’ the Reuters news agency has been told by PV Cycle’s President Karsten Wambach, who also heads SolarWorld’s solar material division. ‘And I could well imagine that it will become a model for other countries.’
In this sector, recycled volumes are relatively low compared to installed capacity, not least because the solar boom has occurred only in the last four years while modules last up to 25 years. In the main, only flawed or damaged modules have been recycled. However, PV Cycle expects Europe’s solar module discards to amount to 16 000 tonnes by the year 2015 compared to some 2000 tonnes last year. EPIA and Greenpeace data show that 0.05% of global electricity consumption was derived from photovoltaic sources in 2006; based on continued political commitment at a global level, this share is expected to soar to around 10% by 2030.
Experts say the cost of producing a solar module from recycled rather than primary material is about the same. However, the recycling of solar wafers uses only a third of the energy needed to produce a module from primary materials because purification of silicon to solar-grade level is energy intensive. And given that the industry is struggling with a silicon supply bottleneck, recycling provides another source.
There are only a few module recycling plants worldwide - two of which are located in Germany, the world’s largest solar market. One of these is run by a unit of SolarWorld while US thin film company First Solar operates the other using cadmium telluride rather than silicon in its modules, protecting it from the rising costs that are damaging other solar equipment makers.
Since cadmium is highly toxic, First Solar has set up a recycling system of its own. ‘The recycling process is very well controlled and does not pose a risk to employees or the environment,’ according to the US firm. For every module sold, it sets aside an allowance to meet future recycling costs. A financing model of this type could prove attractive to the whole industry, according to Mr Wambach.
Acknowledgement
Reuters
