# 1. Status of PV Solar Panel Recycling
   ## 1.1 Lifespan of PV Solar Panels and Retirement Wave
   The design life of PV solar panels is usually 25 to 30 years, and a large-scale decommissioning of PV panels is about to take place globally. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), it is predicted that by 2030, there will be nearly 80 million tonnes of used PV modules to be disposed of globally. China, as the world's largest PV module producer and application country, is expected to usher in a large-scale ‘decommissioning wave’ of PV modules from 2025, with the cumulative decommissioning volume reaching 1 million tonnes and 20 million tonnes in 2030 and 2050, respectively.

   ## 1.2 The necessity and market potential of recycling
   Recycling of used PV modules is of great significance for reducing environmental pollution, saving resources and lowering carbon emissions. With the global emphasis on renewable energy and circular economy, the PV module recycling market has huge potential. The cumulative value of raw materials accessible through PV module recycling technologies is expected to reach US$450 million by 2030 and more than US$15 billion by 2050. In addition, the recycling of valuable materials such as glass, aluminium, silicon and silver contained in used PV modules will bring new growth points for related industries.

   ## 1.3 Current recycling technologies and methods
   Currently, the recycling technology of PV modules mainly includes physical method, chemical method and pyrolysis method. The physical method achieves material recovery through mechanical disassembly and separation; the chemical method separates and recovers valuable materials through chemical solvents or reactions; and the pyrolysis method extracts metals and organic materials through high-temperature decomposition. Each of these technical routes has its own advantages and limitations, such as the physical method recovery process is environmentally friendly, but the material separation efficiency is low; the chemical method recovery efficiency is high, but may produce secondary pollution. Therefore, the development of efficient and environmentally friendly recycling technologies is the focus of current research.
# 2. PV Solar Panel Recycling Policies and Standards

## 2.1 National Relevant Policies and Guidelines

The Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Recycling of Decommissioned Wind Power and Photovoltaic Equipment, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments, puts forward specific targets by 2025 and 2030, and emphasises the importance of establishing a sound mechanism of responsibility for the disposal of decommissioned equipment, improving the equipment recycling system, and strengthening the capacity of resource recycling. It is clearly stated in the policy that PV equipment manufacturers are supported to establish a distributed PV recycling system through independent recycling, joint recycling or entrusted recycling modes, and wind power and PV equipment manufacturers are encouraged to take the initiative to provide recycling services.

## 2.2 Industry Standards and Technical Specifications

General Technical Requirements for the Recycling of PV Modules (GB/T 39753-2021) stipulates the basic principles of PV module recycling, requirements for collection, transport and storage, dismantling, disposal, recycling and management. In addition, the technical specification for environmental pollution prevention and control of waste PV module recycling is in the process of soliciting opinions, which is expected to further regulate and guide the industry's environmentally friendly recycling behaviour.

## 2.3 Establishment of recycling system and responsibility mechanism

Currently, China is accelerating the construction of a waste recycling system to promote the recycling of retired wind power and photovoltaic equipment. The policy encourages production and manufacturing enterprises, power generation enterprises, operating enterprises, recycling enterprises, and utilisation enterprises to establish a long-term cooperation mechanism, smooth recycling channels, and strengthen upstream and downstream industrial convergence and synergy. Meanwhile, it is also promoting localities, industry associations and relevant institutions to organise activities such as technology and product docking and exchange meetings, application demonstration site meetings, etc., so as to promote the exchange and promotion of advanced technology and product models.
# 3. Progress of PV Solar Panel Recycling Technologies

## 3.1 Physical Recycling Method
The physical recycling method is currently the most widely used PV module recycling method, which mainly uses mechanical force to disassemble and separate solar panels to achieve the classification and recycling of materials.

- **Technical process**: first of all, the waste solar panels are pre-treated, including the removal of aluminium bezel and junction box on the panels; then, through crushing and screening, the glass, silicon wafers, batteries, EVA adhesive film and other materials are separated; and finally, through the magnetic separation, flotation and other physical methods, the recycling of various materials is achieved.

- **Analysis of Advantages**: The physical recycling method is simple to operate, less costly and environmentally friendly, and does not produce harmful chemical wastes. According to statistics, through the physical recycling method, the recovery rate of glass can reach more than 90%, and the recovery rate of silicon materials is also more than 80%.

- **Application Cases**: Yingli Group has developed a low-temperature deep-cooling grinding technology, which effectively separates EVA adhesive film and silicon materials through physical grinding, achieving high-purity recycling of materials.

- **Market Outlook**: With the large-scale decommissioning of PV modules, the physical recycling method is expected to dominate the future PV module recycling market due to its environmental friendliness and cost-effectiveness.

## 3.2 Chemical Recovery Method
The chemical recycling method extracts valuable elements from solar panels through chemical reactions and is suitable for the recovery of metals and rare elements in PV modules.

- **Technical process**: The chemical recovery method mainly includes the steps of acid washing, leaching, precipitation and extraction. Firstly, chemical reagents such as sulfuric acid and nitric acid are used to dissolve the metal elements in PV modules, and then the target metals are separated and purified through precipitation and extraction.

- **Analysis of Advantages**: The chemical recovery method can efficiently recover precious metals such as silver and indium in PV modules, with a high recovery rate, and it can handle materials that are difficult to separate by physical recovery methods.

- **Application Cases**: The chemical wet refining technology developed by Changzhou Ruisai Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. realises the efficient recovery of metals such as copper, lead and tin through the method of selective oxidation-alkali leaching-electrodeposition.

- **Market Prospect**: With the increasing demand for precious metal recycling, the chemical recycling method will occupy a place in the PV module recycling market, especially in the recovery of high-value metals with obvious advantages.

## 3.3 Innovative Recycling Technologies
With the development of science and technology, a number of innovative PV module recycling technologies are emerging, which are designed to improve recycling efficiency, reduce costs and reduce environmental pollution.

- **Salt etching technology**: Chinese scientists have developed a salt etching method that uses molten NaOH-KOH to react with the surface coating of silicon solar panels to quickly strip off silver wires, achieving efficient recycling of silver and silicon.

- **Pyrolysis Method**: Separates EVA adhesive film and silicon materials by pyrolysis of photovoltaic modules at high temperatures, which eliminates the need for chemical reagents and reduces the generation of chemical waste.

- **Bio-recycling method**: Using microorganisms or enzymes to catalyse the decomposition of EVA adhesive film to achieve biodegradation of the material, which is an emerging environmentally friendly recycling technology.

- **Market Prospect**: Innovative recycling technology will become an important direction for the future development of PV module recycling technology due to its high efficiency and environmental protection. With the maturity of the technology and cost reduction, these innovative technologies are expected to be widely used in the market.
# 4. PV Solar Panel Recycling Market Analysis

## 4.1 Market Demand and Supply Situation

With the global emphasis on renewable energy, the market demand for PV solar panels continues to grow. According to statistics, China's new installed capacity reached 87.41GW in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 60.3%, and the cumulative installed capacity ranked first in the world for eight consecutive years. However, the service life of photovoltaic solar panels is generally about 25 years, which means that from 2025 there will be a large number of photovoltaic modules ‘retired’, therefore, the recycling of waste photovoltaic solar panels is in urgent need.

At present, China's waste PV module recycling market is still in its infancy, the market size is relatively small, but with the large-scale decommissioning of photovoltaic modules, the market demand is expected to grow rapidly. It is predicted that by 2030, the cumulative decommissioning of PV modules in China will reach 1 million tonnes, and by 2050 it will reach 55 million tonnes.

## 4.2 Recycling Costs and Economic Benefits

The recycling cost of waste PV solar panels mainly includes the cost of transport, dismantling and material separation. At present, the recycling cost of domestic waste PV modules is high, mainly due to the lack of mature dismantling process and large-scale recycling network. However, with the progress of technology and the scale effect, the recycling cost is expected to be gradually reduced.

In terms of economic benefits, waste PV solar panels contain a large amount of recyclable materials, such as glass, aluminium, silicon and silver, which have high economic value. Through recycling, it can not only reduce the exploitation of primary resources, but also bring considerable economic returns. It is estimated that the market value of recycling a batch of PV modules can reach hundreds of millions of yuan, and the value of raw materials can be further increased after secondary processing.

## 4.3 Industry Competition Pattern and Business Model

At present, the competitive pattern of China's waste PV solar panel recycling industry has not been fully formed, and the market is in the blue ocean stage. Major players in the industry include PV module production and sales enterprises, automation equipment and testing equipment manufacturers, and environmental protection enterprises.

- **Photovoltaic module production and sales enterprises**: such as JinkoSolar, a new energy, etc., these companies in the expansion of their own business at the same time, also began to layout the photovoltaic module recycling business, in order to improve the industrial chain and reduce costs.
- **Automation equipment and testing equipment manufacturing enterprises**: such as Zhongke Ona, these companies use their advantages in automation equipment manufacturing to develop PV recycling special equipment and technology.
- **Environmental Protection Enterprises**: such as Ding You Environment and Dongjiang Environmental Protection, these enterprises contribute to the harmless treatment of PV recycling as well as the development of recycling from the perspective of solid waste and hazardous waste.

In terms of business model, recycling enterprises of used PV solar panels mainly gain revenue by selling recycled materials, providing recycling services, and conducting technical research and development. As the market matures, more innovative business models are expected to emerge in the future, such as whole industry chain services for PV module recycling and deep processing of PV recycled materials.
# 5. Challenges Facing PV Solar Panel Recycling

## 5.1 Technical Challenges and Optimisation Needs

Recycling technologies for PV solar panels are mainly divided into physical, chemical and pyrolysis methods. At present, these technologies still face many challenges in practical application.

- **Physical method**: Although the operation is relatively simple, it is difficult to efficiently separate all materials in PV modules, especially for PV modules with fluorine-containing backsheets, which are difficult to deal with by the physical method and are prone to waste of resources.
- **Chemical method**: It can achieve a high material recovery rate, but the process may produce a large amount of toxic and harmful waste liquid and gas, causing secondary pollution to the environment.
- **Pyrolysis**: decomposes PV modules under high temperature conditions, with high recycling efficiency, but with high energy consumption, high equipment costs, and strict requirements on operating conditions.

**Optimisation requirements**:

1. **Improve recovery rate**: develop new recycling processes to improve the recovery rate and purity of materials, especially for precious and rare metals.
2. **Reduce costs**: Reduce recycling costs through technological innovations to improve the economics of the recycling process.
3. **Environmentally friendly**: Research and develop environmentally friendly recycling technologies to reduce environmental pollution in the recycling process.
4. **Policy support**: Policy support and incentives from the government are needed to encourage enterprises to adopt advanced recycling technologies.

## 5.2 Degree of perfection of policies and standards

China's policies and standards on PV module recycling are not yet perfect, and there is a lack of special regulations and standards to guide and regulate the recycling of PV modules.

- **Lack of policies**: There are no laws and regulations dedicated to PV module recycling, resulting in a lack of mandatory and binding force for recycling work.
- **Uniformity of standards**: The lack of uniform recycling standards and evaluation system makes coordination and cooperation between recycling enterprises and processing enterprises an obstacle.

**Improvement Suggestions**:

1. **Develop a special policy**: Introduce a policy dedicated to PV module recycling, clarify the responsibilities and obligations of all parties, and provide policy incentives.
2. **Establish a standard system**: establish and improve technical standards and evaluation systems for PV module recycling, and standardise the recycling process.
3. **Strengthen regulation**: Strengthen regulation of the PV module recycling process to ensure that recycling activities meet environmental requirements.

## 5.3 Market Order and Industry Regulation

Currently, the PV module recycling market order is relatively chaotic and lacks effective industry regulation.

- **Market disorder**: There are a large number of small workshop-type recycling enterprises in the market, which lack standardised operating procedures and environmental protection measures.
- **Price Chaos**: Due to the lack of unified recycling standards, the recycling price of PV modules in the market is chaotic, affecting the healthy development of the market.
- **Insufficient regulation**: the lack of effective industry regulatory mechanism leads to some unregulated recycling behaviours not being corrected in time.

**Regulatory Suggestions**:

1. **Establishment of regulatory system**: establish a perfect regulatory system for PV module recycling and strengthen the supervision of recycling enterprises.
2. **Regulate market behaviours**: establish industry norms to regulate market behaviours and combat illegal recycling activities.
3. **Improve industry access threshold**: Improve the access threshold of the PV module recycling industry and encourage the development of large-scale and standardised recycling enterprises.
# 6. Future Development of PV Solar Panel Recycling

## 6.1 Technological Innovation and R&D Direction
The innovation of PV solar panel recycling technology mainly focuses on improving the recycling rate, reducing costs, and reducing environmental pollution. Currently, the recycling technology innovation and R&D directions mainly include:

- **Physical method recycling technology**: through mechanical crushing, sieving and other physical processes, to achieve the separation of glass, metal, plastic and other materials in solar panels. The R&D of physical method recycling technology is developing in the direction of improving separation efficiency, reducing energy consumption and equipment cost.

- **Chemical recycling technology**: the use of chemical solvents to dissolve the EVA film in the solar panels, and then separate the metal and semiconductor materials in the cell. Research and development of chemical recovery technology focuses on developing environmentally friendly solvents and improving the recovery rate and purity of valuable materials.

- **Pyrolysis Recycling Technology**: Through high temperature pyrolysis, organic materials in solar panels are decomposed, thus separating glass, metal and silicon materials. The R&D direction of pyrolysis recycling technology lies in optimising the parameters of the pyrolysis process and improving the quality of the recycled materials.

- **Integrated Recycling Technology**: Combines physical and chemical methods to achieve efficient recycling of solar panels through a multi-step combination process. The R&D of integrated recycling technology aims to improve the overall recycling efficiency and economy.

## 6.2 Policy Support and Market Incentives
Policy support and market incentives are critical to the development of the PV solar panel recycling industry. Governments and organisations are taking a variety of measures to promote this sector:

- **Legislation and Regulation**: Developing relevant laws and regulations to require PV panel producers to take responsibility for recycling and to ensure that discarded solar panels are disposed of appropriately.

- **Financial subsidies and tax incentives**: Provide financial subsidies and tax incentives to PV panel recycling companies to reduce their operating costs and make the recycling business more attractive.

- **Market access and promotion**: Establish a certification system for PV panel recycling to encourage and guide consumers to use certified recycled products.

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