Solar Energy: Recycling process promises 'better than new' silicon wafers
A new process to recover wafers could dramatically cut the energy cost required to produce recycled silicon cells. Image: Ministère de la Transition écologique
Recycling process promises better than new silicon wafers
PV-Magazine.com | June 16, 2022 | Mark Hutchins
As the solar industry comes of age, dealing with the growing volume of products reaching end of life is already a research priority at universities and institutes the world over. Many different approaches are on trial, though experts are waiting until later this decade when the volume of products is expected to grow significantly, giving them room to experiment with processes at large scale.
Processing and purifying silicon from end-of-life cells back to a state where it can again be inserted back into the PV supply chain to make new cells has proven a major challenge here. It requires high levels of energy and a complex understanding of tiny impurities left in the recycled silicon that differ from brand new material.
Some already say that diverting this silicon to applications with lower purity requirements is the best solution. However, a group of scientists led by the Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion at the Chinese Academy of Sciences may have come up with an alternative one that cuts out the energy-intensive ingot production stage entirely.
...With this in mind, the group sought ways to recover silicon wafers suitable for production of high efficiency cells and modules. They demonstrated a series of chemical treatments that are shown to both purify wafers and improve their surface characteristics, making them suitable for use in new, high-efficiency cells. The process is described in full in
A systematically integrated recycling and upgrading technology for waste crystalline silicon photovoltaic module, which was recently published in Resources, Conservation and Recycling. MORE:
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2022/06/16/recycling-process-promises-better-than-new-silicon-wafers/
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Isn't everyone glad that the US Congress gave tax credits to US Corporations to outsource their manufacturing to China - back when the US made things besides surveillance gear and war toys?
China is.