PV panel recycling

PV panel lamination/encapsulation technology using very soft polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) gels is a very effective solution for both beginning-of-life (BOL) low degradation and end-of-life (EOL) recycling. Compared with existing PV panels, PV panels laminated with very soft PDMS gels are much more effective throughout the whole life cycle, from BOL to EOL.

1. A brief review of the long-term (26–30 years) degradation rates of PV panels encapsulated/laminated with the PDMS encapsulation material revealed very low degradation rates ranging from -0.15% to -0.22%.


2. The main advantages of the new recycling process are as follows:
   • a) Environmentally sustainable - Recycling efficiency 95–98% (usual recycling efficiency ~15–90%)
   
   
   • b) Very simple mechanical delamination/disassembly at room temperature
   
   
   • c) Very clean- Negligible dangerous waste emissions (no burning or chemical etching).
   
   
   • d) The direct reuse of PV panel components exceeds +80% (usually no component reuse).
   
   
   • e) Energy consumption is reduced by more than two times (compared with usual recycling).
   
   
   • f) Low cost – More than two times less expensive recycling (compared with usual recycling)


3. Finally, the very low annual degradation rate of encapsulated PDMS PV generators/panels shown in Table III reduces the number of PV panels recycled in a given year by at least a factor of three (up to 4 times). The replacement of PV power plants after 10 years of operation will increase PV panel waste ~20 times in the near future. Owing to the unique synergistic combination of a low degradation rate (reduced PV waste production) and high recycling efficiency, final PV waste production can be greatly reduced (~114 times) when soft gel PDMS lamination PV technology is used.

Environmentally Sustainable Recycling of Photovoltaic Panels Laminated with Soft Polysiloxane Gels: Promoting the Circular Economy and Reducing the Carbon Footprint

doi:10.20944/preprints202507.1099.v1