PV Tech Premium has conducted a special report on the photovoltaic industry’s preparations for the decommissioning phase after the end of the project life cycle, and later interviewed Jan Clyncke, general manager of PV Cycle, a compliance project for Belgian photovoltaic manufacturers, focusing on solar projects. Issues of component recycling and reuse after decommissioning.

Clyncke discussed misunderstandings about the value of end-of-life materials and the uncertain economic viability of reusing components. The article also describes attempts by various countries to convert PV waste streams into efficient reuse and recycling processes, with even some giant Asian manufacturers turning their interest towards recycling programmes.

Clyncke said photovoltaic modules "are not a good waste solution." This is because if you want to optimize collection, recycling and decommissioning costs, you have to know when the product needs to be recycled. Unlike the regular turnover of smartphones, photovoltaic modules have a service life of decades, which makes them unsuitable for investment in recycling production lines and expansion of scale.

Furthermore, decommissioning occurs in the distant future and it is unclear whether the original installers and owners will still be around at the time of decommissioning.

Cost accounting errors

Clyncke claims that US decommissioning requirements are inadequate and the main focus remains on large-scale commissioning programmes, leading to a lack of accountability at the end of the project life cycle. There is also a common misconception that the value of recycled aluminum bezels and other equipment offsets decommissioning costs.

Given the additional costs of transportation, shipping, overhead and labor, it is difficult for manufacturers to achieve a zero-cost recycling solution because they must finance the collection and recycling of PV equipment. "Some decommissioning plans ignore this."

In terms of component recycling and reuse, Washington State, which has very little installed photovoltaic capacity, is the only state in the United States that has advanced the extended producer responsibility program for photovoltaic modules. After multiple delays, the program is set to launch in 2027. Several other states have draft bills in place, but Clyncke said enforcing the federal law nationwide would be a more effective strategy.

On the other hand, in the UK and EU, PV modules and inverters have been included in extended producer responsibility legislation since 2014 as part of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. This requires reporting each quarter on how much product is put on or off the market and which products are disposed of or recycled.

Meanwhile, PV Cycle has withdrawn old components from Europe, Panama, Senegal and other parts of Africa, while large manufacturers in Asia, including China, are also contacting PV Cycle to dispose of excess components.

"Not all waste goes to Africa."

Regeneration and decommissioning

Clyncke predicts that with the rapid improvement of solar cell efficiency, the life cycle of large-scale photovoltaic power stations will reach 10 years in the future, so regeneration will make economic sense and will become a standard method.

"When I started in the industry, solar modules were at 180Wp, and now you can only do business when you have 400-450Wp for household rooftop solar modules and 700Wp for large-scale solar modules. So regeneration will continue. exist and become quite important.

Journey to Reuse Standards

Clyncke also hopes that dismantled components can be reused. Since 2021, he has been working on this issue and trying to adopt a standard at the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) level.

Currently, a technical report on photovoltaic module reuse is being finalized and will be published in the first quarter of this year. We hope that this report will convince experts of the need to develop technical specifications for the reuse of PV modules, and potentially lead to a global standard by 2030 that will hold global players accountable for their actions.

While working in the waste industry, Clyncke witnessed a lot of illegal waste being shipped to Africa, so he is committed to helping avoid this trend with PV modules. Guidance can only go so far, as there are still issues with inspection agencies and there are many loopholes and weak links in the global system that could lead to waste leaking into the illegal environment.

"If you also look at the current situation, it will be a big challenge to make reuse economically viable because new components are so cheap now. If you have to take the components back to the workshop for inspection and repair, cost-wise It's suicidal, you know, because you're going to lose money."

Unclear U.S. recycling plans

Opaque planning can also obscure the optimistic, purposeful rhetoric surrounding recycling. For example, according to a February 2024 report from the Electric Power Research Institute, U.S. project owners are responsible for removing PV modules when systems are decommissioned, but only North Carolina’s policy requires recycling or taking steps other than removal from the project site. Specific disposal measures.

"Of the schemes analyzed, some stated their intention to recycle PV modules, while others intended to resell the modules to recoup their costs." Most of the schemes implied that modules that could not be easily recycled or resold would be disposed of in other ways.

Of the 22 decommissioning plans or statements surveyed, only four identified specific recyclers or cited specific recycling programs, while two committed to zero landfill policies.

How the global photovoltaic industry will respond to the explosion of used photovoltaic equipment is still unknown. In an interview with PV Tech Premium in June last year, Suvi Sharma and Jesse Simons, the two founders of Solarcycle, a photovoltaic recycling company located in Texas, USA, expressed optimism.

They claim that the average life of photovoltaic modules is 15 years, not 20-30 years, so mass module scrapping is coming much sooner than expected.

The pair have also shown that their recycling process can recycle nearly all the materials in PV modules, and they believe it can avoid large-scale illegal dumping of PV equipment.Trina solar panels