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Venice-based 9-tech has developed a thermomechanical process to recycle end-of-life PV panels, with early results showing an 87% recovery yield of materials such as silicon, copper, and silver.
Italian startup 9-tech is developing a thermomechanical recycling process for end-of-life PV panels. Early results show an 87% recovery yield for materials like silicon, copper, and silver, with competitive energy consumption.
The recovered materials reportedly have a purity level high enough for reuse in other applications. The process includes manual disassembly to remove the aluminum frame and junction box, followed by cutting the panels for encapsulant removal in a continuous furnace designed to minimize energy loss, using a heat exchanger to reduce the heat required for treatment.
“The process consists of a first manual disassembly phase, in which the aluminum frame and the junction box, made mainly of plastic and copper, are dismantled,” 9-tech CEO Pietrogiovanni Cerchier told pv magazine. “The panels are then cut into 33 cm strips to reduce their size and make them suitable for the next phase. The panel strips are subjected to a heat treatment to obtain complete combustion of the EVA encapsulant.”
After this phase, copper strips, silicon cells, and glass are separated mechanically. Rollers first remove the copper wires, and the material is sieved to eliminate fine particles. A vibrating sieve then separates the PV cells from the glass.
The process also includes a fume abatement system with a pocket filter and activated carbon. Silicon is recovered as small foil pieces under 20 cm², and a washing treatment has been tested to remove silver and aluminum.
The company is optimizing processes for scaling up, completing lifecycle analyses, and exploring ways to reuse recovered materials, especially silicon, in various value chains.
The pilot plant achieved an 87% recovery yield. From 898 kg of PV panels, it recovered 581 kg of glass, 146 kg of aluminum, 14 kg of junction boxes, 26 kg of PV cells, 6 kg of copper tapes, 0.45 kg of silver, and 9 kg of dust.
“The analysis showed that the purity of the recovered materials was sufficiently high to be suitable for other applications,” Cerchier explained. “The recovered glass, aluminum and copper demonstrated that they meet the specifications for end-of-waste status, in accordance with point 1.2 of Annex I to Council Regulation (EU) No 1179/2012 of 10 December 2012.” |
