Thermal and hydrometallurgical processes are prevalent in most of the PV recycling methods, and the encapsulating material can be removed with the aid of thermal decomposition and nitric acid . Jung et al. used a thermal treatment to decompose the EVA layer and to separate the different layers of solar panels.
The recycling of photovoltaic modules can be segmented into two steps. In the first step the solar cell is separated from the glass and EVA layer. In the second step the solar cell is refined by removing the metallization portion, ARC layer, and p-n junction.
Recycling of PV comprises repairing, direct reuse, and recycling of materials chemically and mechanically from different types of decommissioned photovoltaic modules. The top five countries in solar production are China, Taiwan, America, Japan, and Germany, and all other countries have a huge demand for photovoltaic modules .
Observing the production of The PVMs e-waste quantity will be increased up to 60–78 million tons worldwide according to the report “End-of-Life Management: Solar Photovoltaic Panels”. By the end of 2050, it is projected that around 10% of E-waste will be generated by degraded photovoltaic modules only .
The adoption of solar panels promises reduced carbon footprints and enhanced energy independence. However, a critical challenge lies in the management of end-of-life photovoltaic modules . The global capacity of solar energy installations is growing rapidly, bringing the issue of photovoltaic waste management to the forefront.
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) introduced the policy in 2014 that PV manufacturers will be responsible for recycling to manage end-of-life management of PV modules . The contributions of silicon-based modules and CdTe modules to recycling quantities are 79.7% and 1.1%, respectively .