How Are Solar Panels Recycled?

As a renewable energy source, solar panels have a limited lifespan. As old panels are retired, how can we recycle them to reduce resource waste and environmental impact? That requires solar panel recycling machine, which is specially designed to extract valuable materials from old solar panels for recycling.

Solar panel recycling machine mainly consists of three parts: frame removal machine, glass removal machine, and solar panel crusher and separator. The processing process includes three stages:

Aluminum frame removal:

Use a frame removal machine to remove non-recyclable parts such as aluminum frames and junction boxes. The remaining panels are then ready for subsequent recycling.

Glass Removal:

Use a glass removal machine to remove most of the glass from the surface of the old solar panel.

Crushing and separation:

The pre-processed battery cells are placed in a shredder, shredded and then put into a crusher, where the materials are broken into 1-2 cm blocks. Through negative pressure feeding, these small pieces will enter the mill. If the size of the ground material is not up to standard, it will return to the mill for further grinding. The qualified sized materials enter the airflow separator, where metal powder is screened out on one side and plastic and a small amount of metal are screened out on the other side. These plastics and a small amount of metal enter the electrostatic separator to separate the plastics from the metals. Finally, different types of products are screened and classified, including glass, copper, silicon and plastics.

The components in solar panels are made of glass, aluminum frames, silicon, copper and silver paste (used for printing conductors on each cell), all of which (up to 95%) can be successfully recycled in principle. Each of these materials can be reused in a variety of industries. Therefore, using solar panel recycling machine to process used panels can not only reduce resource waste, but also promote the development of a circular economy.

If you have any questions or needs on solar panel recycling, feel free to contact us. We will give you the perfect solutions.