An Investigation of the Recovery of Silicon Photovoltaic Cells By Application of an Organic Solvent Method

Abstract

The issue surrounding the treatment of photovoltaic (PV) waste is one that is gaining traction around the world. The recovery of valuable materials from end-of-life, damaged and out-of-spec PV modules is one PV waste treatment approach that has been investigated. However, this approach usually involves damage to PV cells that could otherwise be reused if extracted undamaged as the lifetime of PV cells is far longer than that of PV modules. Current practice is mainly focused on extracting the elemental constituents such as silver, copper and aluminum as well as recycling of silicon to be used in the fabrication of new PV cells. A method of extracting undamaged PV cells would address PV module waste generation with the added advantage of further reducing the carbon footprint associated with PV module manufacturing. This study will focus on the recovery of undamaged silicon PV cells from end-of-life PV modules by application of an organic solvent method. Specific organic solvents deemed to be appropriate for the recovery process along with operating conditions allowing for the recovery of undamaged PV cells from end-of-life PV modules are investigated. Herein, we compared the proposed PV cell recovery method with current recycling techniques which result in damage to PV cells. Furthermore, we will demonstrate that a comparison based on surface morphology and electrochemical properties between the recovered and virgin PV cells shows that the recovered PV cells could effectively be used in the fabrication of new PV modules.