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Recycling solar panels is tough because glass fines are created, often inseparable from items that adhere to them. Those fines don't currently have secondary de
by howmayiannoyyou 4y ago
Recycling solar panels is tough because glass fines are created, often inseparable from items that adhere to them. Those fines don't currently have secondary demand and they're a health and possibly environmental hazard. The CAPEX for recycling panels is high because size reduction and separation requires expensive (and expensive to maintain) equipment. I expect companies like American Battery Recycling, et. al., to tackle this waste stream on as a natural adjunct to their battery recycling operations/systems. I'm not as optimistic that the waste won't be as bad as once thought because I envision the price of new panels to continue to fall, while efficiency increases. Could be a secondary market emerges for the old panels, but I'm skeptical.
- VBprogrammer 4y agoI've seen at least half a dozen cases where off-grid people tried to buy a container load of used solar panels which, for one reason or another, in the end never appeared. I believe the demand for used solar panels is higher than the supply.
- Schroedingersat 4y agoAl, Si and trace amounts of silver have no health or environmental hazard, and the silver is the valuable bit. Please stop gas lighting based on obsolete technology that was only briefly popular in one country.
- Scoundreller 4y agoInhaling solid $anything dust is a health and environment hazard. Si dust probably isn't asbestos bad, but wouldn't want to breathe it in either.
- recycledmatt 4y agoThese will go into auto shredders (for the most part) which have dust management plants
- pfdietz 4y agoI'm pretty sure the dust from the 2 BILLION TONNES of steel the world makes every year, or the 32 TO 50 BILLION TONNES of sand and gravel that are mined globally every year, will be just a tad more serious of a problem. But I know, that dust is off in mines and mills, while PV recycling will be performed in preschools.
- Schroedingersat 4y agoWell don't go within 10km of a road then. Brake disks are full of it, and pads have much worse. Then there's all the ground up rubber, bitumen and glass. If anything the filtered outlet vent of a recycling facility would reduce this.
- ummonk 4y agoPrice falling, sure, but I don’t see how efficiency rising would lead to more solar panel waste down the road.
- kragen 4y agojevons paradox
- recycledmatt 4y agoThey can recover the aluminum fraction with an Eddy Current. The panel becomes Adc or land fill