Management of end-of-life photovoltaic modules - State of the art and outlook

Summary

With a European installed base of 200 GW by 2022 and a forecast of more than 250 GW by 2024, the installation of photovoltaic panels is growing significantly throughout the European Union.

From a circular economy perspective, it is therefore essential to look ahead to the management of the end-of-life of these PV modules, especially as these flows should be considered as genuine waste-resources due to their composition. At European level, we therefore need to have the industrial tools capable of recycling these sources as effectively as possible, so as to conserve these resources and reintegrate them into other value chains.

Following on from RECORD's pioneering work on this subject in 2012, this new study provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the recycling of photovoltaic modules, including an analysis of the technologies deployed, the most promising recycling processes (summary sheets for each technology), and the development prospects for these sectors.