SBIR Phase II: Profitable Recycling of Silicon Solar Cells and Modules

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是让‘绿色’太阳能产业真正绿色。随着太阳能组件的部署迅速扩大，组件浪费也将随之增加。据国际可再生能源机构(IRENA)估计，到2030年初，组件废物将大量出现，到2050年，组件废物总量将达到7800万吨。今天，大多数模块废物最终被送往垃圾填埋场。这个SBIR项目将开发一种技术，以最大限度地提高模块回收的收入。它有可能在没有任何政府补贴的情况下实现有利可图的回收业务。通过回收组件中所有有价值的组件，我们的技术有可能从7800万吨组件中产生高达600亿美元的收入。拟议的项目为硅太阳能电池和组件开发可持续的回收工艺和相关设备。该项目的目标是分离和回收电池和模块中所有有价值的、有毒的和笨重的组件，包括太阳能级硅、银、铅、铜、铝、锡和玻璃。太阳能级硅回收的目标是85%，金属，特别是银的回收目标是90%以上。根据今天太阳能级硅和银的价格，回收的收入按我们的技术计算是15美元/模块，而按今天的技术计算是3.50美元/模块。该项目的主要工作将是开发硅太阳能电池回收的原型，并为生产环境优化工艺。该原型的目标生产能力为每天处理50公斤太阳能电池废料。这一奖励反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to make the 'green' solar industry truly green. As the deployment of solar modules expands rapidly, so will module wastes. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that module wastes will appear in large quantities by early 2030's and by 2050 they will total 78 million tonnes. Today most module wastes end up in landfills. This SBIR project will develop a technology to maximize the revenue from module recycling. It has the potential to enable a profitable recycling business without any government subsidy. By recovering all the valuable components in modules, our technology has the potential to generate up to $60 billion in revenue from 78 million tonnes of modules.The proposed project develops sustainable recycling processes and related equipment for silicon solar cells and modules. The goal of the project is to separate and recover all the valuable, toxic, and bulky components in cells and modules including solar-grade silicon, silver, lead, copper, aluminum, tin, and glass. The target for solar-grade silicon recovery is 85% and the target for metal recovery, especially silver, is over 90%. The revenue from recycling, based on today's prices for solar-grade silicon and silver, is $15/module by our technology, as compared to $3.50/module by today's technology. The primary work of this project will be developing a prototype for silicon solar cell recycling and optimizing the process for a production environment. The target throughput of the prototype is up to 50 kg of solar cell wastes per day.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.