China’s State Grid Qinghai Electric Power Company said on February 3rd that it has made a breakthrough in the research of solar panel recycling technology in the photovoltaic industry, which has achieved resourceful treatment with low energy consumption and low-cost way and recycling of waste solar panels, which is of positive significance to the healthy and sustainable development of the new energy generation industry.
In recent years, China’s newly added and accumulative photovoltaic installed capacity ranks the first in the world. Relying on its geographical advantages, Qinghai Province has become the most concentrated area in the world for large-scale grid connection of photovoltaic power stations. And how to treat and recycle solar panels has become a hot issue in the industry and environmental protection circles.
According to the Electric Power Research Institute of State Grid Qinghai Electric Power Company, the recycling method of waste solar panels is prone to produce waste liquid and waste gas, which cannot effectively separate valuable components, and poses a threat to the ecosystem and residents’ health in the disassembled area.
It is learned that the service life of solar panels is 20 to 30 years, and it is predicted that by 2050, China will waste about 20 million tons of photovoltaic modules.
This technology can realize the recovery and reuse of various types of materials such as glass, metal and silicon powder after the solar panel is dissociated. At the same time, compared with the traditional mechanical separation, it has the advantages of less material waste, better crushing effect and lower treatment cost.
The Electric Power Research Institute of State Grid Qinghai Electric Power Company said that this technology has the characteristics of small environmental pollution, low energy consumption and high economic benefits, and has a wide application space, which can provide new solutions for the recycling of discarded solar panels in China, and is conducive to promoting the recycling and utilization of solar panels in China
