Against the backdrop of the continuous promotion of the global dual carbon target and the rapid expansion of the new energy industry, photovoltaic energy has become the core pillar of global energy transformation with its advantages of cleanliness, efficiency, and renewability. At present, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaics worldwide has exceeded 1.2 terawatts. While large-scale implementation is underway, the early batch operation of photovoltaic modules has gradually reached a service life of 25-30 years. The “retirement wave” of large-scale photovoltaic modules has arrived, and the problem of photovoltaic waste disposal is becoming increasingly prominent.
According to authoritative predictions from the International Renewable Energy Agency, the total amount of photovoltaic waste worldwide is expected to reach 78 million tons by 2050. If a large number of retired photovoltaic modules are discarded or buried indiscriminately, it will not only occupy land resources, but also cause soil and water pollution due to the substances such as silicon, copper, and heavy metals contained in the modules, which goes against the original intention of green development of new energy. In this context, building a standardized, large-scale, and green photovoltaic panel recycling system, breaking through the bottleneck of waste photovoltaic module recycling technology, filling the gap in the end cycle of the photovoltaic industry, has become the core proposition for the new energy industry to achieve sustainable development throughout the entire chain.
The current field of photovoltaic panel recycling includes various processes such as chemical recycling, pyrolysis recycling, and physical separation. Among them, physical separation technology has become the mainstream core process for solving the problem of photovoltaic material regeneration due to its core advantages of no pollution, low cost, high material recovery rate, and scalable production. It is also the most widely used green recycling technology in the industry. This technology has no chemical additives or high-temperature exhaust emissions throughout the process. It achieves precise separation and sorting of various materials for photovoltaic modules through mechanical and physical means, fully preserving the value of recycled materials. The core is divided into two stages: pre-treatment disassembly and deep crushing and sorting.
The first stage is pre-processing and disassembly, which is the fundamental step for precise recycling. It mainly includes four core steps, gradually completing the overall disassembly of photovoltaic modules. The first step is to dismantle the frame. Retired photovoltaic modules are often equipped with aluminum alloy frames to provide fixation and protection. By using specialized dismantling equipment to peel off the aluminum frames, the complete recycling of aluminum profiles can be achieved. The recycled aluminum material can be directly recycled and reused. The second step is to remove the junction box and connecting cables on the back of the photovoltaic panel, separate the copper circuit components, and lay the foundation for subsequent fine sorting. The third step is to remove the glass. The tempered glass on the surface of the photovoltaic panel is the main protective structure. The surface glass is removed through precise mechanical peeling technology to avoid glass impurities interfering with the subsequent sorting of core materials. The fourth step is glass sorting, which involves screening and removing impurities from the peeled glass, removing glass materials that are damaged or have attached impurities, and obtaining high-purity renewable glass raw materials.
The second stage is deep crushing and sorting, which is a key step in efficient material regeneration and achieves precise separation of various segmented materials. The pre processed scrapped photovoltaic panel main material is first sent to a shredder for preliminary shredding, which breaks down the complete panel into uniform particle materials; Subsequently, it is transported to a specialized crusher for deep crushing, thoroughly breaking down the adhered EVA film and monocrystalline silicon wafer, and solving the problem of material composite adhesion. The mixed material after dispersion is conveyed to the collector by a negative pressure induced draft fan for centralized collection, and high-purity silicon material is preliminarily screened and separated.
