Hello everyone, welcome back to my solar blog! Today, we’ve got quite an interesting discovering from the good folks at the U.S Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) that could have significant indications for the future of solar panels for your home. The researchers at NREL have been delving into metal halide perovskite solar panels. That’s a mouthful, isn’t it? Let’s break down what that means.
Metal halide perovskite (MHP) solar panels are in the spotlight today due to their potential for high efficiency and low production costs. However, the NREL team sought out to tackle another vital aspect: recyclability. Yes, in a world edging more and more towards sustainable practices, the idea of creating easily recyclable MHP solar panels is exciting. It shines a light on sustainability design factors that could really change the game for the solar industry and even the solar companies that produce these panels.
The researchers at NREL put a prototypical single-junction MHP module under examination, evaluating its sustainability aspects. These aspects included but weren’t limited to the energy intensity of manufacturing, carbon intensity, and recyclability. The team further assessed its material concerns, embodied energy, carbon impacts, and circular supply chain processes.
As they delved further into the circular economy framework, they introduced an adaptation of the ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ notion. They termed it the eleven ‘Rs’ of circularity for photovoltaics which promote opportunities within sustainable manufacturing.
Concerning the recycling aspect, the team observed that there’s room for improvement. For instance, most PV glass manufacturing still uses virgin sources and not post-consumer PV glass cullet. This, they noted, could be changed to make the entire operation more sustainable.
The study identified five key areas to pursue. This included enhancing MHP module reliability to meet commercial PV lifetime standards, examining the supply chain of low-trade-volume raw materials, finding alternatives to certain elements like indium, hastening PV glass recycling without downcycling, and refining module remanufacturing processes.
This beckons a new era for us as individuals interested in setting up a solar array for home use. I must note that to enable metal halide perovskite PVs to contribute meaningfully and sustainably to the energy transition, the researchers recommend a combination of these solutions. Such a move is sure to give the current solar company a run for their money.
In conclusion, through recycling and remanufacturing glass, this research highlights the potential opportunity for the solar industry to reduce the embodied energy and carbon of MHP-PVs. Improvements in lifetime and reliability remain paramount for the solar industry and provide the most significant benefits according to the incredible team at NREL.
Stay with me on this exciting solar journey as we aim to transform our world, one solar panel at a time! Until next time, keep shining!
Original Articlehttps://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/08/15/making-perovskite-solar-pv-circular-from-the-start/
