What Happens to End-of-Life Solar Panels?

When solar panels can no longer be reused or refurbished, Olital Recycling follows a detailed and compliant recycling process to recover as much material as possible from each unit:

1. Initial Disassembly: The aluminium frame and cable connector block are carefully removed from the panel.
2. Shredding and Crushing: Panels are cut into large sections before being passed through a hammer mill, which breaks them down into smaller fragments—typically between 6mm and 10mm—to separate the bonded laminate layers.
3. Chemical Separation: The semiconductor layers are then removed using a slow-rotating leach drum, a process that takes around 4 to 6 hours. A mixture of diluted sulphuric acid and hydrogen peroxide is added to extract the films from the glass by achieving the optimal solid-liquid ratio.
4. Glass Recovery: Once the films are stripped, the glass fragments are separated from the liquid using a classifier separator. The material is then passed over a vibrating screen, which separates the clean glass from larger laminated components, such as Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA).
5. Material Collection: The EVA is conveyed into a collection system, while the cleaned glass passes through a screen into a chute, where it is thoroughly washed to remove any remaining chemical residue.
6. Metal Recovery: The rinse water, containing dissolved metals, is directed into a precipitation tank. Metals are recovered in three stages using sodium hydroxide to gradually increase the pH, causing the metals to precipitate. The resulting dense mixture is then processed further and refined into semiconductor-grade materials suitable for new solar modules.

Through this advanced recycling process, up to 90% of the glass and 95% of the semiconductor materials can be recovered and reused in the production of new solar PV panels—supporting a sustainable and circular approach to solar energy.