“Paving the way to a circular economy”

A recently launched 5.2 million-panel solar farm in China sheds light on what will happen to a mass of valuable metals and electronic waste when the suncatchers stop working in a few decades.

According to a Dimension Market Research report published by Yahoo Finance, some experts believe the flood of old panels will create a growing recycling market that will be worth $626 million by 2033.

To that end, researchers from China’s Wuhan and Northeastern universities have developed a more environmentally friendly way to reuse the panels’ valuable components, including silicon and silver. They’re harder to harvest than the metal frame and glass surfaces that also make up the systems, according to Interesting Engineering. The technique uses less energy and is considered highly efficient.

If the process is scalable, it could divert waste from the renewable energy sector from landfills. CNBC reported last year that about 90% of old or broken solar panels end up in landfills because recycling them is expensive.

The breakthrough is a “simple salt-etching method that enables recycling … solar panels without the use of toxic mineral acids,” the research team wrote in an abstract published in the journal Nature.

It starts with a “highly reactive” molten mix of salt and potassium hydroxide at 392 degrees Fahrenheit. The panel components are immersed in the mix for two seconds, then again for up to two minutes.

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“The short exposure times allowed the layers of material to separate while remaining largely intact,” says Ameya Paleja of IE.

Heat breaks down some materials, while sodium or potassium hydroxide works on others. The silicon is “etched” and the silver wires separate and float in the water. The filter captures 99% of the precious metal. Other techniques, including electroplating, can also recover lead, tin, copper and aluminum. Water is added to stop the “etching reaction.” The solution can be reused, according to IE, and leaves a nontoxic byproduct.

In addition, Paleja says, recycling about 2.2 pounds of panels this way prevents the emission of nearly 31 pounds of planet-warming air pollutants and reduces “energy use by as much as 220-fold.”

Data collector Statista reports that solar power generated 5.5% of the world’s electricity last year, with new innovations and large-scale farms being announced regularly. The technology could make home systems more affordable and expand the availability of solar programs to communities. The latter could save an average of $150 a year without installing equipment at home.

What’s more, new businesses like Solarcycle are already springing up in Georgia to ensure that valuable materials from old panels can be reused.

New solvents, baths and other invented methods could help boost cleaner solar energy by cutting heat-trapping pollutants into the atmosphere through burning oil, gasoline and natural gas extracted from fossilized plant waste. As our planet warms, experts are finding that high temperatures are even hurting children’s academic performance.

Recycling, smart technologies and renewable energy sources make cooling easier.

“This study presents a feasible approach for the sustainable management of used solar panels, paving the way towards a circular economy,” the Chinese research team wrote in the journal Nature.

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