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Design of a photovoltaic waste recycling system in Greece

Tzala Charikleia

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Summary

The management of photovoltaic waste is an issue that will be a major concern in the next years. It is known that photovoltaic (PV) panels have an average lifespan of 25-30 years. After the end-of-life cycle, they are considered as waste. The recycling, reuse and recovery of materials are practices that deserve to be studied both in terms of economic cost-benefit analysis and environmental benefits. Nowadays, in Greece there is no comprehensive plan for the management of photovoltaic waste. So far, the quantities of PV waste are small, but in the next few years it is expected to increase of them. This study analyses and designs a system for the management, collection, and treatment of photovoltaic waste in Greece. Taking into account, the energy produced by photovoltaic systems, the market share, the PV technologies, the quantities of waste produced, the transport and collection methods, an integrated system for the management and recycling of photovoltaic waste is presented, aiming at the protection of the environment in combination with the economic viability and functionality of the project. Based on historical data from the 2010 until 2022, in Greece the cumulative produced energy from photovoltaic systems is 4,267.20 MW. It is estimated that in 2030 the cumulative installed capacity will be 7.7 GW and in 2050 it will be 16.1 GW. Taking into consideration these data, the future PV waste is estimated by the conversion of the annual PV capacity (ΜW) into mass (kg) considering 2 different scenarios. In the Early Loss (EL) Scenario it was estimated that 20,365.03 tn of PV waste will be produced in 2032, while in the Regular Loss (RL) Scenario the corresponding amount will be produced in 2033 (21,004.35 tons of PV waste). Additionally, it calculated the quantities of various materials which compose the photovoltaic panel, which are worth recovering for several reasons. The recovery of silver is an important factor. Specifically, it was estimated that in 2034, 6.07 tons and 6.15 tons of silver (Ag) will be produced for each scenario, respectively. The same estimations have been made for various materials such as Cadmium (Cd), Tellurium (Te), Silicon (Si), etc. Furthermore, based on the amount of installed capacity and PV waste, the optimal location for the installation of the recycling center (PVRC) was found. According to the calculations, the prefecture of Fthiotida and specifically alongside the Athens-Lamia highway in the area of Anthili is the optimal location to establish the Photovoltaic Recycling Center (PVRC) in combination with various waste collection centers around Greece. Finally, in order to complete this project, an economic assessment was carried out, taking into account different costs, the main one being the transport costs. For the EL Scenario, the Net Present Value (NPV) for 20 years was calculated at around 37,980,000 € and the payback period (PB) was 14.64 years, while for the RL Scenario the NPV was around 36,720,000 € and the payback period was 12.93 years. The present study is interdisciplinary, as it takes into account many different factors and data in order to present a comprehensive plan for the management of photovoltaic waste in Greece.

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