solar panel recycling operation

With the rapid development of the photovoltaic industry, the recycling of retired solar panels has become increasingly prominent. Efficient recycling operations require the configuration of specialized production lines, including mechanical disassembly, heat treatment, chemical leaching and other modules. Typical recycling lines include crushing and sorting equipment, electrostatic separators, acid-base solution reaction tanks, etc., to achieve automated sorting and material extraction.

The recycling process can be divided into four steps: 1) Remove the glass and aluminum frame, separate them after mechanical crushing; 2) Heat treatment to decompose the EVA film and release silicon cells; 3) Chemically purify metals such as silicon and silver; 4) Purify tail gas and waste liquid. Through this process, more than 95% of the materials can be recycled.

The recycled products include high-purity silicon (for new panels), silver (electronics industry), glass (building materials) and aluminum (recycled metals). It is estimated that about $500-800 worth of raw materials can be extracted from each ton of waste components, significantly reducing the raw material costs of the new energy industry chain.

In terms of economic benefits, large-scale recycling can hedge the cost of decommissioning photovoltaic power stations while creating secondary sales revenue. EU research shows that the global photovoltaic recycling market will exceed $3 billion by 2030.

In terms of environmental protection, recycling can prevent toxic substances such as lead and cadmium from polluting the soil, reduce energy consumption in silicon mining, promote the photovoltaic industry to achieve a “production-recycling” closed loop, and help achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.

In summary, solar panel recycling has the dual value of resource circulation and environmental protection, and is an important part of the sustainable development of photovoltaics.