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JinkoSolar develops innovative recycling process for solar panels | |
| Sumita Pawar |
According to the report, JinkoSolar has developed a process via which 92% of the materials that make up a solar panel can be recycled, including cells, front glass, back sheet, aluminium frame, copper wire, encapsulation material, and the junction box.
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Unlike conventional recycling methods, which mix materials together, making them difficult to separate, the company’s solution separates the glass and silicon wafer through thermal and mechanical processes.
It also takes advantage of the different melting points of encapsulation materials like thermoset EVA and POE when the module is heated for disassembly, according to the report.
Once the encapsulation material has decomposed, the module can be easily dismantled, with elements like glass and ribbon being able to be separated whole from the panel as opposed to as pellets.
According to the report, this process not only maintains the purity of the materials but also allows silver to be extracted from intact solar wafers, which means that JinkoSolar panels will no longer be discarded into landfills when they reach the end of their useful life.