CONCEPT

Challenges of PV Waste

Globally, PV waste is expected to skyrocket from 400,000 tonnes in 2020 to over 5.5 million tonnes per year by 2050.

Yet, current recycling methods fall short, recovering only the most basic components, such as aluminum frames and contaminated glass.

As a result, valuable materials like silicon, which accounts for 40% of a module’s cost, and other metals such as silver, are rarely recovered. This means that most of the panel’s true value and its potential for reuse are lost.

APOLLO aims to transform this and recover these valuable metals.

APOLLO’s Mission

APOLLO is redefining how we think about solar waste. It pioneers a circular economy approach that links:

Legacy recycling

Future PV module production

Next-generation recycling systems

Using these five key processes, APOLLO increases recovery rates from 18% to 93%.

It all starts with sorting PV waste, extraction, refining, reusing, and tracing materials with blockchain-based transparency.

PV WASTE

1

SORTING

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Waste categorised by glass composition enabling batch processing for high-quality glass recovery for PV.

2

EXTRACTION

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93% wt of all material types recovered through novel mechanical and sonification processes.

3

REFINING

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Recovered Si returned to ingots for re-manufacture into new PV cells.

4

REUSING

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Si, glass, and tech-critical metals will be recovered and demonstrated in new PV modules.

5

TRACING & CIRCULARITY

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Secure PV-centred blockchain digital Product Passport and a PV marketplace implemented.

Value chain

A cost-effective system is being developed at the APOLLO Micro Factory to sort and extract valuable materials from end-of-life PV panels. In already existing facilities, 40 tonnes of PV waste will be processed to recover high-purity critical metals, glass, and silicon, followed by ingot growth and wafering. The processed components will be used in PV panel manufacturing to produce new PV panels for end users - creating a circular module of solar technology.