However, according to Professor Chris Sansom at the University of Derby, by 2050 we could have 300 million tonnes of scrap panels globally. An example of an end-of-life recycling process is as follows: PV Solar panels are stripped of their aluminium frame edges and the cable block is removed.
The waste from solar panel modules is expected to reach about 8600 tons by 2030 and it will further increase to 78 million tons by 2050. The waste solar panel should be discarded or recycled appropriately since the toxic substances released from them can affect human health and the environment.
The reason there are so few facilities for recycling solar panels is because there has not been much waste to process and reuse until recently. The first generation of domestic solar panels is only now coming to the end of its usable life. With those units now approaching retirement, experts say urgent action is needed.
Valuable materials recovery when recycling solar panels can provide not only environmental benefits but also economic value. Recycling of Al frames, with an approximate value of USD 2.7/m 2 module, yields the most economic advantage.
Solar panel recycling facilities use effective physical separation techniques, such as mechanical processing, shredding, sieving, and magnetic separation, to accomplish optimal material recovery and recycling. Maximizing the value of recyclable resources and reducing the environmental effect of discarded components require proper separation.
The overall techno-economic efficiency of current recycling techniques can be further enhanced by incorporating wastewater treatment, gas emission filters and scrubbers into the process flow. (3) Solar panel recycling plays a vital role in the implementation of a circular economy in the solar energy sector.