Techno-economic assessment of solar photovoltaic (PV) waste management in Bangladesh

Abstract

Abstract The global deployment of solar power has accelerated, particularly in Bangladesh, due to the energy crisis, escalating vitality requests and commitments related to climate change. The nation’s capacity for on-grid and off-grid solar energy has more than quadrupled in just five years, rising from 300 MWP in 2000-2017 to 730 MWP in 2018-2022. This caused the production of 14 TWh of electricity which results 7 million tonnes CO2 emission reduction over time. However, this growth has certainly also resulted in the production of significant amounts of solar photovoltaic (PV) waste which is increasing over the coming years, becoming an enormous threat to waste management system. Human and ecological risks allied with this instinctive depositing of PV waste, urging the need to design a successful plan to manage this new stream of waste. In order to comprehend the situation on the ground and identify difficulties and constraints that prevent the adoption of a regularized policy for its management, this study reviews the literature on Bangladesh’s PV waste management sector. The country is technically capable of PV waste recycling which returns economic worth of USD 65.8 million and CO2 emission reduction 63 million tonnes. Finally, to assess the framework’s functionality, a SWOT analysis has performed.