Integrating sociotechnical factors to assess efficacy of PV recycling and reuse interventions

Abstract

By 2050, the cumulative mass of end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) modules may reach 80 million metric tons globally. The impacts could be mitigated by circular economy (CE) strategies including module recycling, repair, and reuse. However, previous studies of PV circularity omit consideration of critical social factors. We use a novel agent-based model to integrate social aspects with techno-economic, factors—providing a more realistic assessment of circularity potential for previously studied CE interventions and assessing additional interventions that cannot be analyzed using techno-economic analysis alone. We also performed a global sensitivity analysis using a machine-learning metamodel. We show that excluding social factors underestimates the effect of lower recycling prices on PV material circularity. Interventions aimed at changing customer attitudes about used PV boost module reuse, although used modules can only satisfy a third of US demand during 2020–2050, suggesting that reuse should be complemented by recycling.

Simplified Recovery Process for Resistive Solder Bond (RSB) Hotspots Caused by Poor Soldering of Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Modules Using Resin

“…Additionally, it is expected that the amount of silver used, which was approximately 10 µg per cell in 2021, will be reduced by almost half by 2032 [37]. Therefore, the most desirable method of recycling a PV module is to recover the performance of the module at the end of its commercial life and use it again [38][39][40]. In particular, a technology to normalize the system by recovering defects in PV modules with severe power degradation in PV power plants, currently operating under the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) subsidy system, is essential.…”

Prediction of Power Output from a Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Module with Repaired Cell-in-Hotspots

“…The large-scale installation of photovoltaic modules results in the problems of economic use of resources during production and processing of waste modules after use [19,20]. By 2050, 80 million tons of accumulated photovoltaic modules are expected to reach their service life worldwide, with 10 million tons in the US alone [21]. With the rapid increase in the installation of photovoltaic modules in countries such as China, the collection and recycling of end-of-life photovoltaic modules is becoming an important task, and various methods of building efficient recycling systems are being investigated [22].…”