S. Korea Develops Technique to Recycle Discarded Solar Panels Into High-performance Solar Cells
upstart writes:
S. Korea develops technique to recycle discarded solar panels into high-performance solar cells:
Researchers have developed a non-destructive technique to recycle discarded solar panels to create high-performance solar cells. The technique will become crucial in a few decades when solar panels that are currently being used are discarded after their operational life of about 20 years.
A solar panel is a photovoltaic module made of materials such as glass, aluminum, silicon and copper. It uses sunlight as a source of energy to generate direct current electricity. A solar cell is a black mirror-like electrical device that is the key component of a solar panel. Techniques have been researched to maximize the efficiency of recycling solar panels.
The state-run Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) said in a statement on August 19 that a technique developed by its research team led by Lee Jin-seok enables the recycling of solar panels. The institute said the new technique can recycle both undamaged and damaged panels to achieve up to 100 percent retrieval rate of glass components. About 80 percent of other materials can be retrieved and recycled into high-performance solar cells.
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