Chinese PV recycling breakthrough

Trina Solar has unveiled what it claims is the world’s first fully recyclable crystalline silicon photovoltaic module.

Trina Solar says its n-type TOPCon module features a ‘golden-size design’ and was developed using proprietary recycling techniques. These include interlayer separation reagents, chemical etching and wet chemical silver extraction technology.

Recovered materials from waste modules include silicon, silver, aluminum frames and glass. Trina Solar points out that its prototype of a recycled solar panel has a power output of over 645W and an efficiency of 20.7%.

The company, based in Changzhou, has filed 37 patents in the hope of becoming a frontrunner in PV recycling.

Last data suggests the global volume of end-of-life PV panels will hit 80 million tonnes by 2050.