The recyclable silver in waste solar PV panels is mainly attached to the conductive grid lines on the surface of photovoltaic cells, existing as a silver paste sintered layer on both the front and back sides of monocrystalline/polycrystalline silicon cells. It is a key material for photovoltaic cells to achieve current transmission.
These silver paste grid lines are attached to the silicon wafer surface via screen printing technology, encapsulated inside the PV panel by EVA film, tempered glass and backsheet. As a high-value recyclable precious metal in PV panels, it requires specific recycling procedures: first disassemble the aluminum frame and junction box of the PV panel, separate the tempered glass from the backsheet, extract the battery cells, then crush and sort the cells to obtain cell powder. Finally, the silver with a purity of over 99.95% can be extracted through acid dissolution and purification processes. Each ton of waste PV panels can yield 180-220 grams of pure silver, realizing the high-value recycling of precious metals.
Professional PV panel crushing and recycling equipment can accurately complete the crushing and sorting of battery cells, efficiently separate silver-containing cell powder from other components, fully recycle and reuse the silver resources in PV panels, and achieve both environmental and economic benefits.
