CCTV News (Focus Interview): Under the background of the country's implementation of the "dual carbon" strategy, China's photovoltaic industry has continued to develop rapidly in recent years. China has become the world's largest producer of photovoltaic modules and photovoltaic power generation application country. Photovoltaic modules, that is, solar panels, have a service life. In the next few years, a large number of photovoltaic modules will be retired and abandoned in China. These abandoned photovoltaic modules can be recycled if they are properly handled, but if they are not handled properly, they will have a serious negative impact on the environment. During the investigation, the reporter found that the recycling market for abandoned photovoltaic modules is very hot, so how are these recycled photovoltaic modules handled?

On the Internet, the reporter found a lot of information about the acquisition of abandoned photovoltaic modules. Through price consultation, the reporter found that abandoned photovoltaic modules are quite popular.

Why is the recycling business of abandoned photovoltaic modules so hot? Where do the large number of abandoned photovoltaic modules purchased by recyclers go?

Based on the clues, the reporter came to a village in the suburbs of Huixian County, Xinxiang City, Henan Province.

In a yard with the name Huixian Tianyu Paper Products Factory, two or three piles of photovoltaic panels with frames removed are stacked against the wall.

At the entrance is a pile of disassembled photovoltaic panels, and the workshop is filled with choking black powder.

Waste photovoltaic modules enter the disposal process after being bought and sold by recyclers. The "physical disassembly" mentioned by the workers is the first step of this process: removing the aluminum alloy frame and junction box.

In this factory, piles of disassembled photovoltaic panels are placed on the ground. Two workers are rolling the panels into rolls and stacking them next to them. In the innermost are two large incinerators.

According to the workers, the two incinerators have just stopped due to a malfunction and are preparing for maintenance. And burning photovoltaic panels is the second step of these small factories in dealing with waste photovoltaic modules: extracting silicon materials and raw materials containing silver and other metals from the disassembled parts.

At the exit of this simple conveyor belt is black powder and particles, which is the silicon powder after grinding.

Cheng Gangqi, director of the Wind and Solar Equipment Recycling Committee of the China Material Recycling Association: "Small factories use rough processing methods and simple processes. Many of the raw materials are discarded in the entire production process. The main EVA film and backplane will also be a good recycled plastic after extraction and processing. This is also a waste of resources."

During the investigation, the reporter found that in addition to the low recycling rate and waste of resources, such small factories and workshops also have environmental pollution problems in production.

A person from another place has a factory in the village that handles waste photovoltaic modules. He said that the incineration and treatment of photovoltaic modules will cause pollution, which cannot be done in other places. He and several fellow villagers came to this village in Henan to invest and build a factory.

The car drove to the other end of the village, which was a yard with an iron gate.

The yard was also piled with a large number of disassembled photovoltaic panels. In a simple shed made of iron sheets, a large incinerator was burning something and emitting smoke. Flames could be seen from the two feed ports, and the furnace had been blackened. Rolled photovoltaic panels were piled next to the furnace.

Cheng Gangqi: "From the perspective of this simple incineration process, its dust control or environmental protection as a whole is definitely not up to standard. One is that there is no relevant collection and disposal equipment for the exhaust gas produced by this combustion; the other is that there is no corresponding equipment to manage the dust. If the dust is not controlled well, it will be suspended in the air into particles. For example, polymer plastic products like this are prone to produce (harmful substances) such as acid rain after burning."

In addition to the pungent black smoke produced by the incineration, in the yard, the reporter smelled an unpleasant odor. Inside the wall made of iron sheets, there were several pools on the ground emitting white smoke, and the ground was full of sewage.

The reporter found that there are not a few small factories and workshops like this, and they also exist in other places. Environmental pollution and low recycling rates are common problems in these small factories and workshops. Despite this, these small factories hidden in the village have simple equipment, but the daily processing volume is not small.

According to the boss, the products produced after the incineration and treatment of photovoltaic modules are very popular.

It turns out that the dismantling and incineration production are only roughly processed raw materials, which will be sold to some downstream manufacturers for further purification by chemical methods to extract silver and higher purity silicon. Taking silver as an example, according to experts, most downstream manufacturers use hydrometallurgical methods to extract it. This requires higher process requirements and stricter management. Once improperly handled, it will cause serious pollution to the soil and groundwater, which is more harmful.

At present, China has become the world's largest producer of photovoltaic modules and photovoltaic power generation applications. As photovoltaic modules have a design lifespan, a large number of photovoltaic modules will be retired or abandoned in China in the next few years, and the number will increase.

Currently, some formal recycling companies have begun recycling discarded photovoltaic modules.

In Xining, in the production workshop of a waste photovoltaic module recycling and processing company, a discarded photovoltaic panel entered the crystalline silicon photovoltaic module recycling pilot line.

Zheng Lu, director of the component recycling pilot line of the Photovoltaic Energy Storage Industry Innovation Center of the State Power Investment Group: "The goal of our recycling line is to achieve the effective recycling of all high-value materials of photovoltaic components, such as the junction box in my hand, as well as the glass, aluminum frame, cable, silver-copper backplane, etc. on site. The recycling rate of aluminum frame, junction box, and cable can reach 100%, and the recycling rate of silver, glass, welding belt and other materials can also reach more than 90%. After the silicon battery is cleaned and purified, the purity of silicon can reach 99.93%."

It is reported that such a recycling and processing production line not only has a high recovery rate, but also meets high standards in environmental protection requirements. Through new technical means, the emission of toxic and harmful gases is avoided in each link, and the pollution of heavy metals to the environment during the treatment process is avoided.

However, the reporter found out that such an efficient and environmentally friendly production line cannot currently be used.

During the visit, the reporter found that, like this company, many formal photovoltaic recycling companies are now facing the embarrassing situation of having no rice to cook.

On the one hand, informal small factories produce day and night; on the other hand, large enterprises with advanced equipment and technology are idle most of the time due to insufficient recycled raw materials and insufficient production lines.

Zhu Jie, general manager of an environmental protection technology company in Nantong, Jiangsu: "Because there is not so much goods, the goods have basically been taken away by small workshops or some stockpilers at a relatively high price. It is difficult for us to compete with them in terms of price now."

Compared with those professional large enterprises, why can simple workshops and factories offer higher purchase prices and occupy more recycling channels and sources of goods?

Zhu Jie: "Our environmental protection costs are much higher than those of small workshops, because we have to de-crosslink the EVA battery cells, step by step, and then take out the EVA and backplane for environmental protection treatment, and then they just burn it in a fire. Our environmental protection costs are relatively high."

Cheng Gangqi: "Informal factories are profit-driven. They only care about whether I can produce more valuable things. The rest is thrown into nature. I will not go to the specified point to dispose of it. If I can avoid supervision, I will do these processes myself."

The market prospects for recycling and reuse of photovoltaic components are huge, but to truly form a green closed loop of the photovoltaic industry chain, it is necessary to continue to improve relevant policies and standards, and guide and regulate the recycling and processing industry.

In July 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Recycling of Retired Wind Power and Photovoltaic Equipment", requiring the acceleration of the construction of a waste recycling system and promoting the recycling of retired wind power and photovoltaic equipment. However, there is currently no special management policy specifically for the recycling and treatment of waste photovoltaic components.

Jiang Hua, deputy secretary-general of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association: "After the release of our top-level design documents, the corresponding supporting detailed rules and supporting policy documents also need to be pre-researched, studied and released. On the one hand, we can adopt policies to regulate; on the other hand, we can introduce such mandatory national standards, including environmental protection standards, energy-saving standards, etc., so that you can enter this industry and achieve closed-loop green development of the industry."

Photovoltaic is a green energy, and the photovoltaic industry is also a green industry. However, in order for this industrial chain to form a green closed loop, it is inseparable from the environmentally friendly recycling of photovoltaic components after they are retired. At present, China's photovoltaic component recycling industry is still in its infancy. There are problems such as small workshops are booming while formal large enterprises are not able to make ends meet, polluting the environment on the one hand and wasting resources on the other. It is urgent to improve relevant policies and standards, guide and regulate the recycling and utilization of photovoltaic components, and at the same time, establish and improve the responsibility mechanism and strengthen environmental protection supervision of the entire process of recycling and disposal. While producing green energy, we should pay more attention to the environmental protection of the entire chain and reduce the impact on the environment. Only then can the photovoltaic industry achieve green, low-carbon and sustainable development.

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