The technology of solar panels and photovoltaic systems is now widely used, thanks also to the various Italian and European regulations that incentivize the installation of devices of this type in public and private buildings, to power them with energy produced from renewable sources. It is estimated that today, only in Italy, there are over one million buildings equipped for energy production with solar panels.
The increase in the number of photovoltaic panels is certainly good news for the environment and energy saving, but it poses some problems that cannot be ignored: first and foremost, the need to correctly dispose of solar panels that have reached the end of their life cycle, to avoid polluting the environment and to recover the raw materials they are made of as much as possible. If properly treated, solar panels can be largely recycled, and the materials they are made of can be reused, with an important economic return and in full respect of the principles of the circular economy.
The productive life of a solar panel is around 20-30 years, and given that in Italy the diffusion of photovoltaics has grown exponentially since the first decade of the 2000s, there are increasingly more panels that are approaching the end of their life cycle. It is therefore very important to identify technological solutions that can ensure the correct disposal of these WEEE, in compliance with regulations and environmental protection.
Solar panels: how they are made and how they are disposed of
The first good news about the disposal of solar panels is the possibility of recovering most of the materials they are made of. Each panel is made with materials that are largely recyclable and often precious, such as:
- Glass
- Aluminum
- Plastic
- Silicon
- Silver
- Copper
All these materials can be separated, recovered and sent to recycling, and if one thinks that a single solar panel contains over 100 grams of copper, it is clear how important the correct treatment of these waste is, both from an environmental and economic point of view. It is estimated that a solar panel, which weighs around 20 kg, can be recycled in percentages higher than 95%: this means that each single panel can provide several kilograms of plastic, glass and aluminum that can be fully reused.
The current regulations establish that solar panels must be disposed of as WEEE of category R4, and that they cannot be landfilled but must be collected separately and treated in specialized centers. The costs of disposal fall on the manufacturers, so in case of need the owners of photovoltaic systems must simply contact those who installed them, who are required to intervene and take care of the disposal free of charge.
The CAMEC plants for the disposal of photovoltaic panels
Once the solar panels have been properly separated and delivered to the specialized centers, their treatment involves a series of subsequent steps necessary to separate the various materials that make them up.
Normally, the first step of the treatment is the manual separation of the aluminum present in the outermost part of the panel from the actual solar cells, which are made of a mix of glass and plastic. Once the metal has been removed, the first trituration of the panels is carried out, which allows to recover the glass component, which accounts for over 70% of the waste's total weight. The separated glass is sent to recycling, while the plastic and metal components are subjected to further phases of sorting and blowing that allow to separate them based on their weight. In this way, it is possible to recover the different types of plastic, as well as the silicon and copper that make up the electrical wires and the solar cells themselves.
To achieve this result, the treatment plants must be carefully designed and equipped with specialized machinery for the trituration and sorting of waste: CAMEC has developed various solutions for the treatment of WEEE of category 4, such as the industrial quadripolar shredder TR4A450, suitable for the trituration of large quantities of material, or the monorotor shredder GRR280, more compact but equally performing thanks to its hydraulic radial drive motor.
CAMEC offers customized solutions for the treatment of decommissioned solar panels. To learn more about CAMEC shredders and their performance, contact our experts!
