2023-07-27 16:53:13
In two years’ time, partly thanks to the Dutch TNO, European solar panels must be made that are completely circular. They also last one and a half times as long.
Discarded solar panels have so far been a waste problem. To prevent moisture from penetrating the panels and destroying the power-supplying solar cells, the various layers of a panel are bonded so well that they can hardly be separated from each other. As a result, many old panels end up in a shredder and the grit with all kinds of valuable substances can then only be used for road paving or something similar.
Now that waste mountain can still be overseen. Thirty years ago, when the panels that will now be replaced were made, there was no significant production. But now hundreds of millions a year come out of the factories and that number will continue to grow rapidly for many years to come. If nothing were to change, we would be left with 60 billion kilograms of unusable grit by 2050.
New destination
There are already numerous initiatives to do something regarding this. This way you can give old panels a second life. They supply much less power per square meter than modern panels, but you can often still generate useful power with them.
If no new destination can be found for them, they can soon be recycled to a large extent. Techniques have been developed to separate the glass plates and backs of the panels from the solar cells. Then you can at least recover part of the original materials.
In Australia they have discovered that you can make very powerful batteries from old panel material. And just this week, an Australian university announced that it can recycle no less than 99 percent of all silver from solar cells. There are already factories in the Netherlands, including Solarge and Exasun, that make panels that are easier to recycle in themselves.
Totally European
However, the European Union does not think that is good enough. And so a project has been set up, Pilatus, which must provide completely circular solar panels. I wrote regarding that before and it now seems that it will bring success. The solar cells for it come from Norway, TNO supplies the covering layer between the cells and the rest of a panel, a Swiss company provides the machines to make the panels and a first factory is set up in Germany.
It must become a real European success story, in which employment also plays a role in addition to the circular panels. We need so many solar panels that it can become a major source of work in the coming decades. In addition, we in Europe must become less dependent on Chinese panels and the basic materials for them. We have learned that lesson from the gas problems caused by Russia’s war once morest Ukraine.
By recycling the raw materials, the import of raw materials can also be limited. As a bonus, the new panels will probably also last much longer: the guaranteed lifespan might increase from roughly 25 to 40 years, TNO expects.
From niche to global market
Since the US also wants to become independent of Chinese solar panels and wants to produce circularly, Pilatus also foresees that the technology can be used there. If that happens, Europe will actually become a superpower in the field of solar energy once more. I say ‘ once more’ because around the turn of the century solar energy started its worldwide advance in Germany and that country therefore also became the supplier of panels, the raw materials for them and the associated inverters. Panels were also made elsewhere in Europe, including the Netherlands.
Ten years later, the Chinese manufacturers came up with much cheaper alternatives and conquered the world market in a few years. Thanks to a lot of research, Europe still remained important in the development of improved panels. This enabled new European manufacturers, such as Energyra in North Holland, to conquer niche markets. Perhaps Pilatus can bring Europe back from that niche to the world market.
In his weblog ‘Vincent wants sun’, Vincent Dekker highlights innovations and developments in the field of green energy, close to and far from home. More episodes at Trouw.nl/vincentwilzon. Vincent now also has a podcast, including regarding heat pumps – listen to it via this link or look it up through the known channels.
Read also:
Wind turbine: from waste nightmare to circular power mill
The countries around the North Sea want to place 15,000 to 20,000 gigantic wind turbines in the sea by the year 2050. Thirty years later, their blades will produce 300 million kilos of plastic waste. Fortunately, we don’t have to put that under the ground anymore. Wind turbines are becoming circular.
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