Imagine a solar panel as a sandwich of glass, plastic, and metal glued tightly together. This project finds a way to 'unstick' these layers using heat lamps or specialized grinding. Instead of crushing everything into a low-value mix, it separates the ingredients so we can get pure silver and glass back.
Solar panels are reaching their end-of-life in massive volumes, creating millions of tons of waste. Current recycling is inefficient, often failing to recover high-value silver and specialized polymers due to the strong adhesives used in panels.
Two innovative delamination technologies using IR lamp heating and backside grinding to separate PV panel layers. These were demonstrated at industrial plants to recover high-purity glass, silver, and polymers.
If you are a recycler dealing with the upcoming wave of millions of tons of PV waste — this project developed delamination technologies that recover glass with less than 1% impurities and silver with 99% purity. This turns low-value waste into high-value raw materials.
If you are a manufacturer dealing with high raw material costs — this project developed a closed-loop recovery system that can provide enough materials to produce 350,000 new panels per year by 2030. This reduces reliance on virgin mining for silver and silicon.
If you are a chemical company dealing with difficult-to-recycle crosslinked plastics like EVA and POE — this project developed a path to recover these polymers with a purity over 99%. This allows for the reuse of high-performance plastics that were previously discarded.
The technology targets a processing capacity of more than 3,000 tons of solar panels per year. Based on available project data, this is sufficient to recover materials for 350,000 new panels annually by 2030.
By recovering silver with 99% purity and glass with less than 1% impurities, the process provides high-purity secondary materials. This leverages the increasing market value of precious metals to create economic benefits.
Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not listed, but the technology is being demonstrated at industrial sites like ENVIE and 9TECH to reach TRL7.
The project helps companies meet the EU WEEE directive, which requires that 80% of the total mass of used solar panels be recycled.
The project period runs from September 1, 2023, to August 31, 2026, with the goal of reaching TRL7 by the end of the term.
The consortium is heavily industry-weighted with a 56% industry ratio, comprising 10 industrial partners and 5 SMEs. This strong commercial presence, combined with 5 research entities and 3 other organizations across 8 countries, indicates a high focus on commercial viability and industrial scaling rather than pure academic research.
Contact the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) in France.
Contact us to connect with the EVERPV consortium for licensing the TRL7 delamination technology.
