German researchers said this week that they have taken silicon from discarded solar panels and recycled it for use in new ones.
This is a positive step for dealing with the coming mountain of waste from solar power, but it’s just one part of dealing with a complicated challenge.
The Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP in Freiburg, Germany, said that its researchers were part of a team that produced solar cells from 100 percent recycled silicon. Cells are the little squares, usually blue, that you see arranged in a tile pattern on solar panels. They are the parts that capture the sun’s energy to convert it to electricity, and silicon is their essential material.
Peter Dold, project manager at Fraunhofer CSP, said the process can work for recycling all crystalline silicon solar parts, regardless of the manufacturer. This is an important detail…