End of life management of crystalline silicon and cadmium telluride photovoltaic modules utilising life cycle assessment

IF 11.2 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL

Resources Conservation and Recycling Pub Date : 2023-10-01 DOI:10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107097

Shweta Singh , Satvasheel Powar , Atul Dhar

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The rapid global adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules created the issue of recycling and disposal at their end of life. Several PV modules installed in the late 1980s or early 1990s have reached the end of their 30-year useful life and are now being removed as PV trash. This enormous amount of PV trash acknowledges recycling as a crucial and significant area in the value chain of PV industries. Hence, this study uses an end-of-life perspective to discuss the life cycle evaluation of two market-dominant PV technologies— c-Si and CdTe. This method examines recycling and avoided burden due to recovered material independently in order to determine the overall environmental benefit. The study concludes that recycling glass, metals like copper and aluminium, and semiconductor material from both c-Si and CdTe PV modules has a lower environmental effect than mining, providing, and refining the same components from original sources.

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利用生命周期评估对结晶硅和碲化镉光伏模块进行寿命终止管理

太阳能光伏组件在全球范围内的迅速采用产生了在其使用寿命结束时回收和处置的问题。20世纪80年代末或90年代初安装的几个光伏组件的30年使用寿命已经结束，现在正作为光伏垃圾被清除。大量的光伏垃圾承认回收是光伏产业价值链中的一个关键和重要领域。因此，本研究使用寿命终止的视角来讨论两种市场主导的光伏技术——c-Si和CdTe的生命周期评估。该方法独立检查回收材料的回收和避免的负担，以确定整体环境效益。该研究得出结论，从c-Si和CdTe光伏组件中回收玻璃、铜和铝等金属以及半导体材料对环境的影响低于从原始来源开采、提供和提炼相同成分。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Resources Conservation and Recycling 环境科学-工程：环境

CiteScore

22.90

自引率

6.10%

发文量

625

审稿时长

23 days

期刊介绍： The journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling welcomes contributions from research, which consider sustainable management and conservation of resources. The journal prioritizes understanding the transformation processes crucial for transitioning toward more sustainable production and consumption systems. It highlights technological, economic, institutional, and policy aspects related to specific resource management practices such as conservation, recycling, and resource substitution, as well as broader strategies like improving resource productivity and restructuring production and consumption patterns. Contributions may address regional, national, or international scales and can range from individual resources or technologies to entire sectors or systems. Authors are encouraged to explore scientific and methodological issues alongside practical, environmental, and economic implications. However, manuscripts focusing solely on laboratory experiments without discussing their broader implications will not be considered for publication in the journal.