Photovoltaic waste assessment in Mexico

Domínguez, Adriana; Geyer, Roland

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.08.013

Cited by 107 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Therefore, this study uses the specifications of a typical c-Si PV that has been installed in South Korea (capacity = 250 W p , weight = 18.6 kg, area = 1.48 m 2 ) to estimate PV module waste generation [27]. In addition, this study estimates the PV waste for different materials by using and adjusting the material composition of c-Si PV technology as established by Domínguez and Geyer [18]. Then, recyclable metals among PV module waste are calculated using the maximum recycling rates in Domínguez and Geyer [18].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, this study estimates the PV waste for different materials by using and adjusting the material composition of c-Si PV technology as established by Domínguez and Geyer [18]. Then, recyclable metals among PV module waste are calculated using the maximum recycling rates in Domínguez and Geyer [18].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[16]. The BOS includes all the other components, including inverter, transformer, mounting structure, cables, tracking systems, and batteries [18]. Most studies investigating PV wastes have excluded the BOS wastes, focusing only on the wastes from the PV module or panel [17,19,20] even though the BOS accounts for 45% of the materials used in a PV system.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most studies investigating PV wastes have excluded the BOS wastes, focusing only on the wastes from the PV module or panel [17,19,20] even though the BOS accounts for 45% of the materials used in a PV system. Domínguez and Geyer [18] estimated the amount of PV waste (including BOS) and the amount of recyclable metal in PV waste when 7.8 GW of massive PV installed between 2016 and 2018 reach the module lifespan of 30 years.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The amount of PV waste and the recyclable materials in PV waste are estimated using existing databases. Domínguez and Geyer [18] used data on the market share of different PV module technologies for a single year (2014), which enabled them to build specific assumptions about the weight of PV modules and the average material composition of each technology from external datasets. They estimated that 1.2 million mt of PV waste (including BOS) would be generated after a 30-year lifespan.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

PV Waste Management at the Crossroads of Circular Economy and Energy Transition: The Case of South Korea

Kim

Park

2018

Sustainability

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The South Korean government’s renewable energy deployment plan aims to increase the share of electricity generated from renewables to 20% by 2030. To reach this goal, the rate of photovoltaic (PV) installation will accelerate in the coming years. This energy transition creates a new challenge: PV wastes. This study estimates the amount of PV waste generated, the material composition of PV waste, and the amount of recyclable metals in South Korea by 2080 under four different scenarios (combining shape parameters of 5.3759 [regular-loss] and 3.5 [early-loss] with PV module lifespans of 25 and 30 years) using the Weibull distribution function. The annual waste generated will fluctuate over time depending on the scenario, but between 4299 and 5764 thousand tons of PV waste will have been generated by 2080. Under the early-loss/25-year lifespan scenario, annual PV waste generation will increase to exceed 130,000 tons in 2045, then decrease through 2063 before increasing once again. The fluctuation in annual PV waste generation appears stronger under regular-loss scenarios. An appropriate system for the monitoring, collection, and storage of PV waste needs to be arranged even before the volume becomes high enough for recycling to be economically viable. International cooperation could be a way to maintain the PV waste stream at an economically feasible scale. It would also be a good idea if the PV module could be designed in a way that would enable easier recycling or reuse.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

PV Waste Management at the Crossroads of Circular Economy and Energy Transition: The Case of South Korea

Kim

Park

2018

Sustainability

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Challenges and Solutions in Solar Photovoltaic Technology Life Cycle

Ullah,

Ahmad,

Sarfaraz

et al. 2023

ChemBioEng Reviews

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Solar energy offers a clean and abundant alternative to the challenges associated with fossil fuels such as greenhouse gas emissions and resource depletion. The review focuses on the environmental impacts of solar photovoltaic technology throughout its life cycle, from manufacturing to disposal, and highlights potential hazards associated with using and producing photovoltaic technology, including releasing toxic gases and other trace elements into the environment. The paper concludes by summarizing various recycling techniques that can be employed to address these challenges and to take full advantage of solar photovoltaic technology without causing harm to the environment.

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Environmentally improved CdTe photovoltaic recycling through novel technologies and facility location strategies

Ravikumar

Seager

Sinha

et al. 2020

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Photovoltaic waste is projected to reach up to 78 million tons across globally dispersed locations through 2050. Current recycling infrastructure is inadequate to process these waste volumes responsibly. This necessitates commercializing novel, environmentally advantageous photovoltaic recycling technologies that improve upon incumbent industrial operations. CdTe photovoltaic recycling is a promising candidate for improvements as 25,000 tons of spent modules are recycled worldwide annually. This paper evaluates the operational performance and compares six novel technologies, the incumbent technology used in industry and one technology which extends the incumbent process across ten environmental impact categories. The tradeoff between incurring a transportation burden (ship or road) to recycle in a large-scale centralized facility with a higher operational efficiency and avoiding transportation by recycling in a smallscale decentralized facility with a lower operational efficiency is evaluated. Thermal delamination to eliminate the ethylene vinyl acetate and separate the photovoltaic glass panels is This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1002/pip.3279 preferable to the incumbent mechanical process across nine environmental impact categories and decreases the climate-change impact of CdTe photovoltaic recycling by 23%. Bath and probe sonication are ineffective for delamination, and the use of organic solvents is more environmentally burdensome than the incumbent mechanical process. Centralized recycling with shipping is environmentally preferable than with road-based transportation. For every 100-km increase in road transportation from the decentralized to the centralized facility, the inventory requirement in the centralized facility should be 6% lower than the decentralized facility for centralized recycling to have a lower climate-change impact than decentralized recycling. The corresponding value for shipping is 0.4%.

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Photovoltaic waste assessment in Mexico

Cited by 107 publications

References 28 publications

PV Waste Management at the Crossroads of Circular Economy and Energy Transition: The Case of South Korea

PV Waste Management at the Crossroads of Circular Economy and Energy Transition: The Case of South Korea

Challenges and Solutions in Solar Photovoltaic Technology Life Cycle

Environmentally improved CdTe photovoltaic recycling through novel technologies and facility location strategies

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