The representatives of the RESPO WEEE Association draw attention to the fact that many of these will go out of use in the coming years and that there is no specialized infrastructure for their dismantling and recycling. Therefore, energy experts are calling on governments to act quickly to prevent a possible global ecological catastrophe.
"When they are out of use, solar panels fall into the category of electrical and electronic equipment waste, but their recycling requires a completely different process than the one implemented so far in the case of televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, or small waste dimensions.
The first generation of domestic solar panels is now reaching the end of their useful lives, requiring immediate action. By 2030, there will be 4 million tons of such damaged or obsolete panels worldwide, and currently, there is little talk of specialized recycling plants in this regard.
In recent years, all over the world, but also in Romania, there has been an accelerated increase in the installation of photovoltaic panels. In our country, demand has quadrupled in the residential and commercial sectors in 2022 alone, after a threefold increase in 2021, as a result of the increase in energy prices. This upward trend will be maintained from now on, especially since only 6% of the energy currently used in the countries of the European Union comes from solar sources. But the authorities think too little about the future and what we will do with these panels after they go out of use", says Cristian Pocol, President of the RESPO DEEE Association.
The world's first solar panel recycling plant will be launched in France.
At the European level, small steps are being taken towards solving this problem. The world's first factory dedicated to recycling photovoltaic panels will open at the end of June in Grenoble, France. The factory aims to extract and reuse up to 99% of the components of a photovoltaic panel. In addition to recycling front glass and aluminum frames, the factory has the ability to recover precious materials such as silver and copper, which are much more difficult to extract. These valuable resources can then be recycled and reused to create more efficient solar units.
"The launch of this factory is good and encouraging news, and the model must be replicated and applied in all countries of the world in the near future. More than 60% of the value of a photovoltaic panel is contained in only 3% of its weight and is given by the valuable materials it contains such as copper, silicon, and silver. Recovery technology is evolving, and experts estimate that in the near future three-quarters of the materials needed for new solar panels, including silver, can be recovered from retired and recycled PV units, speeding up the production of new panels. Currently, there is an acute shortage of silver worldwide to meet the demand for the production of millions of solar panels, necessary in the transition from fossil fuels", Cristian Pocol, President of the RESPO DEEE Association, also declares.
In Romania, only now are the first steps being taken to build a factory specialized in recycling photovoltaic panels. At the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Energy announced that the construction of such a factory is planned, the funds being granted through PNRR.
According to the RESPO WEEE Association, if solar panels were recycled correctly, by 2030 it is estimated that $450 million worth of materials would be recycled. It would achieve 60 million new solar PV panels from recycled materials and an additional 18-gigawatt hours of capacity through recycled panels.
In the same situation, by 2050 it is estimated that $15 billion worth of materials would be recycled. It would provide 2 billion new solar PV panels from recycled materials and an additional 630 gigawatt hours of capacity from recycled panels.
