Skip to main content
European Commission logo
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
CORDIS Web 30th anniversary CORDIS Web 30th anniversary

PHOtovoltaic waste management – advanced Technologies for recOvery and recycling of secondary RAw MAterials from end-of-life modules

Project description

A new perspective for recycling photovoltaics

Waste from electrical and electronic equipment such as fridges and mobile phones are one of the fastest growing waste streams. In Europe, there is a significant increase in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) for recent technologies such as photovoltaic (PV) devices. These products are designed as complex sandwiches, making the recovery of the critical and precious raw materials encapsulated in the layers extremely challenging. The EU-funded PHOTORAMA project will draw up a profitable and sustainable circular value chain that will lead to a carbon neutral PV industry. Specifically, it will develop and demonstrate the industrial prospect for recovering and recycling desirable materials and components from end-of-life PV panels.

Objective

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.

Call for proposal

H2020-LOW-CARBON-CIRCULAR-INDUSTRIES-2020

See other projects for this call

Sub call

H2020-LCCI-2020-EASME-twostage

Coordinator

COMMISSARIAT A L ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES
Net EU contribution
€ 1 532 341,00
Address
RUE LEBLANC 25
75015 PARIS 15
France

See on map

Region
Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 1 532 341,00

Participants (14)