Sinha First Solar - Standardizing High Value PV Recycling_2020-11-11

1 Parikhit (Ricky) Sinha, Ph.D. parikhit.sinha@firstsolar.com Standardizing High Value PV Recycling© 2020 Copyright First Solar, Inc. 2 ● Problem: Most PV recycling is bulk recycling (aluminum, cables, glass) ● Work that needs to be done: Ensure recovery of semiconductor and other metals (high-value recycling) to promote circular economy ● PVQAT TG15 role: Recommend approaches to promote and standardize high-value PV recycling ■ Top-down regulation ■ Bottom-up market pull | Overview© 2020 Copyright First Solar, Inc. 3 Crucial to managing large future PV waste volumes ■ Over 600 GW PV installed worldwide Recycling is important for all PV technologies ■ Environmentally sensitive materials are common in the industry (Pb, Cd, In, Se, Ag…) Provides socio-economic and environmental benefits ■ Minimizes life cycle impacts ■ Reclaims valuable and energy intensive materials ■ Creates jobs and economic benefits ■ Recoverable value could exceed $15bn by 2050 | Why Does High-Value PV Recycling Matter? 23 40 70 100 139 177 228 303 409 512 627 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 REN21, Renewables Global Status Report, 2020 PV Installed Worldwide (GW) Recycling maximizes resource recovery and increases the sustainability of PV© 2020 Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 + 90% Recycling of Semiconductor Material and ~ 90% Recycling of Glass | First Solar’s Module Recycling Process Shredder Hammermill Crushed/ Milled Scrap Holding Bin EVA/Glass Separation Metals Precipitation CdTe Unrefined Semiconductor Material Film Removal Solid/ Liquid Separation Glass Products Rubber Products FS PV modules Third-party Cd/Te Separation etc. | Ecolabel © 2020 Copyright First Solar, Inc. 9 https://sustainableelectronics.org/r2-standard ● EH&S ● Focus materials ● Throughput ● Storage ● Insurance ● Transport ● Recordkeeping | R2 standard – R2 PV standard under development