Towards end-of-life of photovoltaic systems in Malaysia: An assessment of management strategies using a life cycle approach

Abstract

This paper presents the development of photovoltaic (PV) end-of-life (EoL) policy options in Malaysia with consideration of the respective environmental impacts and economic implication. Five policy options were initially formulated based on different combinations of voluntary and regulatory approaches, PV module EoL pathways, i.e. recycling, landfill and incineration, and types of EoL PV modules. Then, the environmental impacts of each option were evaluated using life cycle assessment based on seven relevant impact categories. Later, the economic implication of each policy option was determined based on revenue gained from recovered materials and cost of recycling. Results showed that recycling yields net environmental benefits in all impact categories for crystalline silicon (c-Si) modules and almost all impact categories for cadmium telluride (CdTe) modules. While both regulatory and voluntary approaches offer reduced environmental impacts, the former is more beneficial than the latter as it provides higher quantity of recycled EoL PV modules, net environmental benefit, net primary energy avoidance and net economic benefit. Also, the inclusion of both c-Si and CdTe in recycling is preferred as it yields higher quantity of recycled PV modules as well as higher net environmental benefit and net primary energy avoidance gained in most impact categories. However, the net economic benefit is lower than recycling c-Si alone because the cost of recycling CdTe modules is higher than the revenue gained from recovered materials. These findings seek to assist in establishing sustainable EoL PV management.