SBIR Phase I: Closed Loop Recycling of Copper Indium Diselenide Photovoltaic Modules

该小型企业创新(SBIR)第一阶段研究项目旨在解决基于铜铟二硒化物的新兴光伏技术所面临的环境问题。这项技术刚刚进入商业市场。随着该行业向大批量生产扩张，该行业面临着原材料成本不断上升、废物处理成本不断上升以及未来的负债。该项目开发了一种专门为回收光伏组件量身定做的电化学方法，光伏组件相对于大批量蒸气含有极低数量的危险材料。它使用创新的闭环方法，在一个紧凑的系统中移除、分离和再生半导体薄膜，最大限度地减少浪费。第一阶段将开发铜铟二硒化物的方法。这项研究将产生一种独特的原型回收能力，这种能力是安全、快速、经济、无损、操作简单和易于维护的，并且可以很容易地集成到生产线中。将有缺陷的电池板转化为高效的组件将带来快速的周转和更高的产量。创新将为光伏行业提供及时和便捷的解决方案，以管理危险废物处理和提高组件的产量。它的实施将提高生产率，节省80%以上的处置成本，回收稀缺的原材料，并确保薄膜光伏技术的商业成功。该方法也可应用于其他薄膜产品的回收，如红外探测器、平板显示器、镜片废料等。

This Small Business Innovation (SBIR) Phase I Research project addresses the environmental issuesconfronting the emerging photovoltaic technology based on copper indium diselenide. This technology has just entered the commercial market. As it expands into high volume production the industry faces rising raw material costs, escalating waste disposal costs and future liabilities. This project develops an electrochemical method specifically tailored to recycle photovoltaic modules which contain extremely low quantities of hazardous material relative to large bulk stream. It uses an innovative closed-loop approach to remove, separate and regenerate the semiconductor films in a single compact system with minimum waste. Phase I will develop the method for copper indium diselenide. The research will lead to unique a prototype recycling capability that is safe, fast, cost-effective, non-destructive, simple to operate and easy to maintain and that could be readily integrated into the manufacturing line. Converting defective panels into efficient modules will lead to rapid turn-around and higher production yield.The innovation will provide the photovoltaic industry with a timely and expedient solution to manage hazardous waste disposal and improve module production yield. Its implementation would increase productivity, save over 80% on disposal costs, recover scarce raw materials and ensure the commercial success of thin-film photovoltaic technology. The approach can be applied to recycle other thin-film products, e.g. infrared detectors, flat panel displays, mirror scrap.