Electricity and Control August 2024

ENERGY MANAGEMENT + THE INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

Addressing the high cost of solar waste

As the solar energy sector continues to grow, the chal lenge of managing the costs associated with recycling end-of-life solar panels becomes increasingly pressing. Desco Electronic Recyclers is paving the way for a more economically viable and environmentally sustainable ap proach to solar waste management. Through innovative recycling services and solutions, the company is addressing these financial hurdles and tackling the significant expenses involved in the collec tion, transportation, and processing of solar panels. Giulio Airaga, Desco Director, says the company pro vides a robust and thorough recycling process for solar panels, ensuring that valuable materials are recovered and repurposed and minimising the environmental im pact. “The process begins with dismantling the solar panels to extract the aluminium frame, junction box, and wires, which are valuable components that can be reused or recycled. The remaining photovoltaic material is then shredded to reduce it in size and milled to separate the glass, a crucial step in preparing the materials for further processing,” he explains. The separated glass and aluminium are sent to down stream customers that use these materials in the produc tion of new, sustainable products, promoting recycling and supporting the creation of a circular economy. Airaga says recycling solar panels poses significant challenges, particularly in terms of collection and pro cessing costs. “Transporting solar panels to recycling facilities can be expensive, due to their bulk and weight.” For example, transporting 1 000 tonnes of solar pan els requires 50 truckloads, each costing about R30 000, thus resulting in a total immediate cost of R1.5 million. This cost can increase further, depending on the dis tance from the collection site to the recycling facility.

Desco Electronic Recyclers is pioneering the recycling of end of-life solar panels and sustainable solar waste management. Moreover, the recycling process itself is costly and labour-intensive. Solar panels are large and bulky, and significant manual labour is required to feed them into the recycling machinery. The process involves multiple machines running continuously to handle the large vol umes, further adding to the operational costs. Airaga highlights that the energy-intensive nature of recycling solar panels is compounded by the lack of re liable power supply in South Africa, presenting an ironic challenge given that materials being recycled were used to generate energy from a renewable source. The cost to recycle each solar panel is roughly R200 to R250, and with an average solar farm containing from around 170 000 up to 611 000 panels, the financial impli cations are substantial. It is illegal to landfill solar panels, so finding cost-effective and efficient recycling methods is essential. To further enhance the effectiveness of solar panel recycling, Desco advocates greater involvement from government entities and producer responsibility organ isations (PROs). By subsidising costs and supporting recyclers, these bodies can help ensure that solar panel recycling becomes more accessible and economically viable. □

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AUGUST 2024 Electricity + Control

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