Ricerc@Sapienza

End of life photovoltaic panels of different technologies (poly crystalline Si, amorphous Si, and CdTe) were treated mechanically in pilot scale by single shaft shredder minimizing the production of fine fractions below 0.4 mm (<18% weight). Grounded material was sieved giving: an intermediate fraction (0.4–1 mm) of directly recoverable glass (18% weight); a coarse fraction (which should be further treated for encapsulant removal), and fine fractions of low-value glass (18%), which can be treated by leaching for the removal of metal impurities.

The application of photovoltaics has been rapidly increasing over the past two decades driven by the idea that it could provide a fundamental contribution to the transition from traditional fossil fuels to renewable energy based economies. However, long-term sustainability of photovoltaics will be largely dependent on the effectiveness of the process solutions that will be adopted to recycle the unprecedented volume of end-of-life panels expected to be generated in the near future.

A theoretical and experimental analysis of a thermal-photovoltaic panel, whose purpose is to produce both electrical and thermal energies, has been performed. In order to achieve the main objective, the different components that constitute the thermal-photovoltaic panel have been studied and a simulation model of the thermal-photovoltaic panel has been developed. Furthermore, a prototype of the whole system consisting of a commercial panel, the thermal and electrical circuits, and an innovative wireless remote data acquisition system has been setup.