In the 2024 national "two sessions", the photovoltaic recycling industry is concerned, with several members of the photovoltaic recycling industry putting forward the development of views.
According to the product structure, although PV modules belong to electrical and electronic products, the recycling focus is different. On the one hand, waste electrical and electronic products focus on dismantling and recycling, while PV modules contain more renewable resources, the recycling process should pay more attention to the treatment and product reuse; on the other hand, the treatment of waste electrical and electronic products is relatively decentralized, while PV module processing enterprises should be concentrated in the power station layout. Combined with China's new policy on solid waste treatment, PV module recycling needs to realize the development of minimization, resourcing, and harmlessness from the perspective of the whole life cycle of PV modules.
Waste PV module reduction is carried out from three aspects: module manufacturers, users, and recycling and disposal enterprises. For the module manufacturing enterprises, through the ecological design, toxic and hazardous substances substitution, production technology and process improvement can realize the reduction of waste PV modules from the source; from the perspective of PV module users, good operation and maintenance and intelligent operation and control management can increase the operating life of PV modules and reduce the end-of-life rate; from the perspective of the module recycling and disposal enterprises, the waste PV modules can also be compacted, crushed, pyrolyzed and other treatment methods, and can be recycled and disposed of, From the module recycling and disposal enterprises, the waste PV modules can be compacted, crushed, pyrolyzed and other treatment methods, which can also achieve the purpose of reducing the quantity and facilitating the transportation and disposal.
Harmless treatment is reflected in the negative impact of pollutants generated by the recycling process on the environment on the one hand, and the reduction of carbon emissions from the recycling process on the other. In addition to the harmless treatment of heavy metals and fluoride contained in the PV panels themselves, the recycling process should also reduce the noise, dust, and organic/inorganic solutions as well as carbon emissions generated by the recycling process. The PV power generation process has no carbon emissions, but the production process of PV modules is a high-energy-consuming industry, and the average carbon emissions per unit of PV module products in 2018 was 1.49 kg/W. The carbon emissions of the whole life cycle of PV modules can be reduced to different degrees through the corresponding recycling technologies, among which, the shear + low-temperature chipping and grinding recycling technology developed by Yingli can reduce the carbon emissions through the recycling of aluminum alloys, glass, silicon, and other products by 0.23 kg/W. 0.23 kg/W. Therefore, reducing the carbon emissions generated by the end-of-life treatment process of modules and obtaining recycled products with high purity is of great significance to the green, low-carbon, and sustainable development of the PV industry.
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