​Solar Cell Recycling

DATE: 8 DEC, 2022

TIME: 11:00-12:00

30 min talk, then 30 min for Q&A

ONLINE. Please register for Zoom link and password.​ You can register until the event starts.

Solar energy is accepted as the key to a clean energy future and limiting the effects of climate change. The energy transformation from fossil fuels to renewable sources has significant challenges due to raw material shortages. International Energy Agency has an ambitious target to reach photovoltaic (PV) solar panel capacity that covers more than 20% of the global energy demand. Although policymakers and manufacturers draw a bright future, natural source limitation is a nightmare for PV technology. Additionally, end-of-life solar panels will dramatically affect the waste stream, and currently, there is no sustainable recycling for their waste. 

Our research maps the critical metals for PV industry and their circularity and developing recycling processes of these metals from manufacturing and end-of-life waste. The analysis clearly showed that silver, indium, and gallium supplies are the bottlenecks of the industry due to resource limitations and the importance of the other industrial applications of these metals. Although recycling critical metals from production waste requires straightforward processes, there are still technical and economical challenges to implementation. Considering end-of-life PV modules, their recycling requires a com​bination of mechanical, pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processing approaches. 

Dr. Burcak Ebin​, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Industrial Materials Recycling, is working on recycling of alkaline, NiMH and Li-ion battery waste by pyrometallurgical processes. In the case of the pyrometallurgical processes, there are two possibilities of treatment: processes of secondary metallurgy, which uses batteries as raw material, and processes created specifically for batteries.