Environmentally Sustainable Recycling of Photovoltaic Panels Laminated with Soft Polysiloxane Gels: Promoting the Circular Economy and Reducing the Carbon Footprint

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60460709%3A41330%2F25%3A103331" target="_blank" >RIV/60460709:41330/25:103331 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su17188167" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.3390/su17188167</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su17188167" target="_blank" >10.3390/su17188167</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Environmentally Sustainable Recycling of Photovoltaic Panels Laminated with Soft Polysiloxane Gels: Promoting the Circular Economy and Reducing the Carbon Footprint

Original language description

This article presents an innovative and highly sustainable method for recycling photovoltaic (PV) panels laminated with very soft polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) gels. This approach eliminates energy-intensive and environmentally harmful processes such as burning and chemical etching due to simple and clean mechanical delamination at room temperature via polyethylene wedges. This technology significantly contributes to environmental sustainability by facilitating the direct reuse of materials, reducing the amount of hazardous waste, and minimizing energy consumption during recycling. PDMS panels achieve extremely low annual degradation rates (0.15-0.22%) and excellent recycling efficiencies (95-98%) compared to conventional EVA/POE laminated panels, with up to 81% of the panel weight being directly reused. This has led to a drastic reduction in the overall carbon footprint and is in line with the principles of circular economy and sustainable development goals (SDGs). The synergistic combination of long service life and efficient end-of-life processing makes this technology a cornerstone of sustainability in the photovoltaic industry. It addresses pressing environmental and socioeconomic challenges by promoting resource efficiency, reducing photovoltaic waste by up to 114 times, and enabling policies and practices that support the global energy transition.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10511 - Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7)

Project

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Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Sustainability

ISSN

2071-1050

e-ISSN

2071-1050

Volume of the periodical

17

Issue of the periodical within the volume

18

Country of publishing house

CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC

Number of pages

12

Pages from-to

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UT code for WoS article

001581194300001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105017151721