Cullet Supply Issues and Technologies

Rue, D.M.

doi:10.1002/9781119631590.ch2

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…any PV module's mass, is a high-quality material with a problematic supply chain [15] and a high sensitivity to impurities during manufacturing [55][56][57]. However, glass manufacturing gleans energy and material savings during the melting process from the use of high-purity scrap (cullet) [58][59][60]. Unfortunately, glass from recycled PV modules (including CdTe) is downcycled to container glass or fiberglass due to potential contaminants.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Circular economy priorities for photovoltaics in the energy transition

2022

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Among the many ambitious decarbonization goals globally, the US intends grid decarbonization by 2035, requiring 1 TW of installed photovoltaics (PV), up from ~110 GW in 2021. This unprecedented global scale-up will stress existing PV supply chains with increased material and energy demands. By 2050, 1.75 TW of PV in the US cumulatively demands 97 million metric tonnes of virgin material and creates 8 million metric tonnes of life cycle waste. This analysis leverages the PV in Circular Economy tool (PV ICE) to evaluate two circular economy approaches, lifetime extension and closed-loop recycling, on their ability to reduce virgin material demands and life cycle wastes while meeting capacity goals. Modules with 50-year lifetimes can reduce virgin material demand by 3% through reduced deployment. Modules with 15-year lifetimes require an additional 1.2 TW of replacement modules to maintain capacity, increasing virgin material demand and waste unless >90% of module mass is closed-loop recycled. Currently, no PV technology is more than 90% closed-loop recycled. Glass, the majority of mass in all PV technologies and an energy intensive component with a problematic supply chain, should be targeted for a circular redesign. Our work contributes data-backed insights prioritizing circular PV strategies for a sustainable energy transition.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Circular economy priorities for photovoltaics in the energy transition

2022

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“…Collection of in-house new scrap (e.g., cullet from trimming, cutting, and breakage losses) is usually high ($95% efficiency), but only 15-30% can be recycled. 59 We assumed 30% internal recycling of new cullet. The total amount of glass that leaves the utilityscale PV sector is estimated to be 76.7 million MT by 2100.…”

Section: Flat Glassmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic material flow analysis of silicon photovoltaic modules to support a circular economy transition

Khalifa

Mastrorocco

et al. 2022

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Solar photovoltaics (PV) are the fastest growing renewable energy technologies for clean, cheap, and sustainable electricity generation. To prepare for rapid scale-up, the PV industry needs to project material requirements to build out all aspects of the supply chain appropriately and plan to handle large volumes of module waste.Impacts of deploying different material circularity strategies to reduce waste and conserve primary resources need to be quantified to inform sustainable material management. Here, we introduce the photovoltaic dynamic material flow analysis (PV DMFA) model based on PV electricity generation. The model quantifies material flows and stocks in the cradle-to-cradle life cycles of utility-scale c-Si PV systems in the United States through 2100. We present case studies for solar flat glass and aluminum frame materials under various scenarios to project the impacts of PV performance, reliability, and processing parameters, material circularity strategies, and module design shifts. In the absence of circularity measures, $100 million MT of flat glass and $12 million MT of aluminum would be needed for PV installations by 2100 to meet projected growth in domestic utility PV demand to nearly 1000 TWh in 2100. With optimistic but feasible improvements in efficiency, reliability, and circularity, material intensity and waste could be reduced by nearly 50%. Efficient module collection, minimally intrusive recycling, and careful scrap handling and cleaning could improve material circularity in the PV value chain. This model serves as a sustainability data support tool that may aid in the circular economy transition for PV systems.

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“…Glass manufacturing efficiency was derived from a variety of sources. [300][301][302][303][304] Forward projections for glass efficiency were not available; therefore, 2020 levels were maintained through 2050. Simple assumptions were used for aluminum, copper, and silver and were held constant through 2050.…”

Section: Key Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Improvements from 2020 through 2030 were taken from ITRPV projections and then held constant through 2050. Glass manufacturing efficiency was derived from a variety of sources [300][301][302][303][304]. Forward projections for glass efficiency were not available; therefore, 2020 levels were maintained through 2050.…”

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confidence: 99%