Imagine taking old, broken solar panels and instead of throwing them away, you extract the high-quality silicon to build brand new ones. It is like melting down old glass bottles to make new ones, but for high-tech energy materials. This process also lets that recycled material be used in electric vehicle batteries, keeping the materials in a loop.
Europe lacks a secure, domestic supply of silicon for solar panels and batteries, while simultaneously facing a growing waste problem from end-of-life PV modules.
A circular recycling process, a turnkey factory design for mass production, an online recovery platform, and a PV testing methodology for reuse and repair.
If you are a PV panel manufacturer dealing with high raw material costs and waste regulations — this project developed a circular recycling process that provides a recycled silicon supply for new photovoltaics.
If you are an EV battery producer dealing with silicon sourcing instability — this project developed a cradle-to-cradle value chain that turns end-of-life solar panels into battery materials.
If you are a recycling firm dealing with low-value solar waste — this project developed a turnkey factory design for the mass production of recycled silicon.
Based on available project data, the project will demonstrate economic viability, but specific pricing for the recycled silicon is not provided.
Yes, the project aims for the first worldwide industrial demonstration and will deliver the design of an optimised turnkey factory for mass production.
Based on available project data, the project will deliver the design of the factory, but specific licensing terms are not mentioned.
The project period runs from 2024-01-01 to 2026-12-31, suggesting the demonstration phase concludes by the end of 2026.
The project will develop an online integrated platform specifically for the recovery of PV panels.
The consortium is heavily weighted toward commercial application, with an industry ratio of 55% and 6 industrial partners, including 5 SMEs. With 11 partners across 7 countries, the group is structured to move the technology from the 3 research/university entities into a practical, European-wide industrial supply chain.
Contact SIPOW AS in Norway for technical specifications on the silicon recycling process.
Contact us to find partners for the upcoming industrial scale-up of recycled silicon.
