Do Solar Panels Get Recycled? - Solar Secure

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DO SOLAR PANELS GET RECYCLED ?
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In recent years, technological development has
cast solar power into a much more favourable
light, and the solar PV system has become one of
the most cost-emcient renewable energy sources.
But since solar technology becomes more robust,
older models of solar panels might run into the
risk of becoming obsolete or otherwise damaged
by weather and time.
So the main question is, what happens when solar
panels reach their end of life? Are they
recyclable? The simple answer is yes. We will
look more into it in this article.
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ARE SOLAR PANELS RECYCLABLE ?
As we said earlier, solar panels are recyclable.
Solar PV system and panels typically are made of
a mixture of glass, aluminium, and plastic. Even
though aluminium and glass are highly
recyclable, plastic is not frequently recycled
and less valuable. That said, the problem here
lies with the segregation of the mixed
materials. The procedure of extracting each of
these materials is a bit tedious. This
extraction also requires advanced machinery and
special expertise.
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WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE OF
SOLAR PANEL RECYCLING ?
The following procedure shows how a silicon solar
module is recycled
The aluminium frame is removed from the panel and
is considered 100 reusable.
Step 01
The glass is separated when it goes along a
conveyor belt. 95 of this piece of glass is
considered reusable. The recycled panel goes
through thermal processing, which brings the
frame up to 932 Fahrenheit. This portion of the
procedure permits the evaporation of small
plastic components not yet stripped from the
panel.
Step 02
Step 03
The silicon wafers are etched away before being
smelted into reusable slabs. The silicon on
these slabs is considered to be 85 reusable.
Step 04
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The following procedure shows how a thin-film
based solar module is recycled
Put them in a shredder. Then, a hammermill
ensures that all particles are no larger than
4-5mm, which is the size where the lamination
keeps the inner materials together, breaks and
can be removed.
Step 01
Step 02

• A rotating screw separates the remaining
  substance consisting of both solar and liquid
  material.
• The resulting substance goes through metal
  processing to completely separate the different
  semiconductor materials. On average, 95 of the
  semiconductor material is reusable.

Step 03
At last, the material goes through rinsing. What
remains is pure glass, saving 90 of glass
elements for easy re-manufacturing.
Step 04
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best experience and best value to our customers
all over Australia. We provide the best solar
panel deals for you so that you can invest in
solar panels and get what you need. Over 2.6
Million Australian Homes are already using solar
energy. As every property differs and your
electricity demands for each property are
unique. Solar Secure has a driven solution for
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assist you. Talk to our Solar Secure experts
right now to get a customised quote on solar
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