Cigs Solar Panel Waste

Taking the recycling of cigs pv panels as an example when the collection transportation recycling and disposal stages are all considered the carbon emissions for the recycling of ga and in would be 230 kgco 2 eq for 1 m 2 cigs pv panels according to an assessment by peters 2016.

Cigs solar panel waste.

The use of recycled cigs materials in new solar cells requires separation and purification up to 99 999 of the elements. The trouble with solar waste the international renewable energy agency irena in 2016 estimated there was about 250 000 metric tonnes of solar panel waste in the world at the end of that year. Due to a small amount of highly toxic cadmium present in the cell it would be best to crush the glass in an enclosed area as it is toxic if inhaled and highly corrosive to skin. By california law universal waste cannot be trashed or landfilled but no guidelines are given on the proper way to recycle solar panels.

A copper indium gallium selenide solar cell or cigs cell sometimes ci g s or cis cell is a thin film solar cell used to convert sunlight into electric power. They also contain lead cadmium and other toxic even carcinogenic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. It is manufactured by depositing a thin layer of copper indium gallium and selenium on glass or plastic backing along with electrodes on the front and back to collect current. Over the last decade the body has organized the collection and treatment of more than 33 000 tons of pv panel waste equivalent to roughly half a gigawatt of solar capacity said thoring.

In the future there will be a need to recycle all solar cells currently being installed but at present the biggest issue is the large amounts of waste material that are generated from the solar cell production. Worse rainwater can wash many of these toxics out of the fragments of solar modules over time. The cigs solar cells to be recycled would need to be fed through a glass pulverizer which sends fine particles of the solar cell into the air. Solar panels generate 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than nuclear power plants.

The panels start with sunflare s cigs copper indium gallium selenide solar cells created with a proprietary technology that actually prints the cells onto a stainless steel backing. Waste solar panels that are hazardous e g hazardous waste cigs panels are fully regulated hazardous wastes.