France opened Europe's first solar panel recycling factory

　　Author ：Iflowpower – Portable Power Station Supplier

According to Reuters, French water conservancy and waste organization Veolia has opened Europe's first solar panel recycling plant. Since thousands of tons of aging solar panels will achieve their life in the next few years, the company plans to build more recycling plants. The new factories of the Southern Rousset in the southern part of the San Solar industry reached a contract, which will recover 1,300 tons of solar panels in 2018.

Almost all solar panels will reach their life this year and will increase Up to 4,000 tons from 2022. The person in charge of Veolia Electronic Recycling said, "This is the first special solar panel recycling factory in Europe, which may open other branches worldwide. "So far, aging or broken solar panels are usually recycled in a general-purpose glass recovery facility, including only glass and aluminum frames being recovered, and their special glass is mixed with other glasses.

The rest of the parts are usually burning in the cement furnace. In 2016, the International Renewable Energy Agency said in the study of solar panel recovery. In the long run, the construction of specialized photovoltaic cell recycling plants is worthwhile.

The agency estimates that the value of recovery materials in 2030 may reach $ 450 million, and will exceed 15 billion US dollars in 2050. Veolia's new factory is broken down into glass, silicon, plastic, copper and silver, pulverizing it into granules that can be used to make new panels. Typical crystalline silicon solar panels are made of 65-75% glass, 10-15% aluminum frame, 10% plastic and 3-5% silicon.

The new factory does not recover the thin film solar panel, which accounts for a small part of the French market. Veolia said that its goal is to recover all of France's retired photovoltaic panels, and hope to use this related experience to build similar recycling plants abroad.