Scaling up photovoltaics with the circular economy in mind

As countries around the world push forward with ambitious plans to decarbonise their energy systems, solar photovoltaics (the part of solar panels that convert the sun’s energy into electricity, also known as PVs) will become increasingly popular. 

In the US alone, the current volume of installed PVs is expected to grow almost tenfold between 2021 and 2035, when demand is expected to reach 1TW.

While this increasing solar PV capacity is good news for reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, it represents a challenge in terms of materials required – and subsequently disposed of. A new paper from the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory indicates that by 2050, 1.75 TW of PV in the US will cumulatively demand 97 million tonnes of virgin material and create eight million tonnes of waste at the end of the PV lifecycle. 

According to the paper’s authors, glass in particular – which accounts for the majority of mass in all PV technologies and is an energy intensive component with a problematic supply chain – should be targeted for a circular redesign. 

In the open access paper, titled Circular economy priorities for photovoltaics in the energy transition, the researchers present a number of potential solutions to this challenge, including long-life modules, increased manufacturing scrap recovery, refined testing protocols and innovative glass designs, ultimately concluding: “There are multiple ways to reduce virgin material demands and lifecycle wastes, while maintaining installed capacity through 2050.”