QUASAR will develop and implement solutions for a systematic collection and management methodology and decision tools for EOL-PV-modules based on a holistic approach between all parts and actors across the EOL supply chain including concepts of reverse logistic technologies, AI/machine learning, product lifecycle information management (PLIM) based on digital twins, and best practices for sorting, warehouse operations, testing and repair/reuse. EOL decision-making will be supported through the delivery of a digital product passport thanks to smart sensor tags as well as rapid, non-destructive testing methods for assessing EOL-PV condition for reuse/repair/recycling in the field and at waste treatment facilities. Repair technology solutions will be provided, along with guidelines for second-life warranty, quality thresholds, product reliability, labelling and tracking. QUASAR will upscale and demonstrate two emerging recycling technologies based on delamination by controlled thermal and chemical treatment [pilot A] and waterjet delamination [pilot B], targeting EOL-PV recycling rates of 70-90% for silicon, metals, glass and polymers with high purity for reuse in the PV industry, as well as semi-conductor industry, speciality chemicals, float glass, or other products. Material closed-loop systems will be implemented to enable a circular economy for the PV industry. By 2050, from the upscaling and worldwide deployment of both recycling technologies, substantial volumes of secondary raw materials will be unlocked: 220,000 tons of silicon, 5,200 tons of silver, 62,000 tons of copper and 4,700,000 tons of glass, accompanied with 421 million tons of CO2 savings. To achieve its specific objectives, QUASAR gathers a multidisciplinary consortium involving commercial actors from across the entire EOL supply chain: PV module manufacturers, utility scale PV system operators, collectors, recyclers, and end users of recycled secondary raw materials.

EVERPV’s objective is to provide EU with efficient solutions for a sustainable treatment of end-of-life PV panels and recovery of high purity and high integrity materials. Based on the grinding of PV panels waste from the backside and/or the use of IR lamps heating, EVERPV will demonstrate two innovative technologies to delaminate the different layers of the PV panel. Combined with recycling processes, it will enable to recover glass with less than 1% impurities, encapsulant and backsheet polymers with a purity over 99%, and silver with a purity of 99%. Besides, the project will cluster with other EU-funded consortia already addressing the recycling of silicon (e.g. PHOTORAMA) to provide with a global solution. The new delamination technologies will be respectively demonstrated at ENVIE recycling plant and at 9TECH to reach TRL7. The technology demonstrated during EVERPV project targets to process more than 3000 tons of solar panels per year, thus recovering enough raw materials recovered to produce more than 350 000 new panels per year by 2030. EVERPV will finally demonstrate the potential for reusability of recovered materials in several industrial value chains in particular in the PV industry. The project will lead a strategic analysis on the potential of new EoL panels circular value chains based on estimated PV waste generation together with environmental and societal impact assessments. EVERPV has gathered a consortium of 16 participants from 8 countries whose expertise ranges from solar PV materials and recycling processes (CEA, CSEM, ENEA, TEC), recyclers (ENVIE, 9TECH), process industries and materials suppliers (SGB, DTF, DPL, JBR), PV modules manufacturing (VAL), collecting and waste treatment organizations (SOREN, ERION), policy-making, business and training facilitators (SPE, UNITAR, BI).

Europe is on the need of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) to secure its green energy transition and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. PV panels for clean energy generation, and batteries for energy storage are key components for the green energy transition but heavily depending on CRMs. However, as the PV and EV markets were developing fast in the last decade in Europe, significant amount of secondary EV batteries, and PV panels will be available for recycling. Traditional approaches that have been used so far for their recycling are focused on materials recovery, and less on the enormous potential for reuse in second life before recycling. Additionally, proposed recycling processes so far are still suffering from several issues related to purity and efficiency of the processes as well as high cost and environmental aspects. The overarching aim of the SOLMATE project is to set up solid foundations of a new industrial value chain for the sustainable reuse and recycling of PV solar panels and EV batteries in interesting emerging markets and high added value applications. The main objectives of SOLMATE are on one hand i) to develop and demonstrate viable and guaranteed low-cost decentralised energy systems for different emerging markets and business cases based on the reuse of batteries from EoL EV and used PV solar panels (i.e., repowering from PV farms), and on the other hand, ii) to demonstrate low cost and environmentally friendly technologies for improving the purity and increasing the recovery of raw materials (especially critical raw materials) from EoL EV batteries and PV that cannot be reused. SOLMATE is designed to be fully aligned with the waste hierarchy principles as indicated in the Waste Framework Directive (Prevention, Reuse, Recycling, Recovery, Disposal).

The main vision of CABRISS project is to develop a circular economy mainly for the photovoltaic, but also for electronic and glass industry. It will consist in the implementation of: (i) recycling technologies to recover In, Ag and Si for the sustainable PV technology and other applications; (ii) a solar cell processing roadmap, which will use Si waste for the high throughput, cost-effective manufacturing of hybrid Si based solar cells and will demonstrate the possibility for the re-usability and recyclability at the end of life of key PV materials. The developed Si solar cells will have the specificity to have a low environmental impact by the implementation of low carbon footprint technologies and as a consequence, the technology will present a low energy payback (about 1 year). The originality of the project relates to the cross-sectorial approach associating together different sectors like the Powder Metallurgy (fabrication of Si powder based low cost substrate), the PV industry (innovative PV Cells) and the industry of recycling (hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy) with a common aim : make use of recycled waste materials (Si, In and Ag). CABRISS focuses mainly on a photovoltaic production value chain, thus demonstrating the cross-sectorial industrial symbiosis with closed-loop processes.

Since the last decades, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) have been drastically increasing in Europe, particularly for recent technologies such as Photovoltaic (PV) devices. These products are designed as complex sandwiches, which make the recovery of the critical (Si, In, Ga) and precious (Ag) raw materials encapsulated in the layers extremely challenging. The overall objective of PHOTORAMA is to draw up a profitable and sustainable circular value chain that will lead to a carbon neutral PV industry. PHOTORAMA will develop and demonstrate the industrial prospective of recycling solutions to recover and recycle all the materials ‘components from End-of-life PV panels. A complementary consortium of 13 European companies and research institutes has built the framework of PHOTORAMA as follow: (1) the development of innovative processes and technologies from TRL4-5 to TRL7 to establish a sound recycling scheme to increase significantly resource efficiency with decisive cost-cutting solutions. The implementation of automated disassembly and sandwich opening as layer separation (MONDRAGON, DFD, CEA) enabling high-recovery (> 95%) of secondary raw materials: Ag, Si (SINTEF, CEA, IDENER) and In, Ga (LUXCHEMTECH) from EoL PV panels (crystalline silicon, thin films), (2) the full-circularity approach emphasised from collection (SOREN) to marketable new products from Si, In, Ga, Ag (RHP), glass (MALTHA) mainly for PV manufacturing (EGP), (3) the demonstration of the business viability and attractiveness of its technological solutions (BIFA, ENEA) as one of the most competitive perspective for PV recycling. PHOTORAMA will strengthen this ambitious model with environmental impacts assessments and a strategic dissemination and exploitation plan supported by a strong effort for raising societal awareness (ZSI). The implementation of PHOTORAMA recycling scheme would unlock already more than 100,000 tons of valuable secondary raw materials by 2030.