The End of Life of PV Systems: Is Europe Ready for It?

Abstract

Like other plants, every photovoltaic (PV) power plant will one day reach the end of its service life. Calculations show that 96,000 tons of PV module waste will be generated worldwide by 2030 and 86 million tons by 2050. Such large quantities of waste can endanger the environment and people if they are not disposed of properly. This paper investigated how photovoltaic waste is currently handled, how this problem is legally regulated and to what extent reuse, recycling and disposal are represented. As recycling is the best option in terms of environmental protection and a circular economy, an overview of recycling technologies and recovery rates for the materials contained in the PV system is given. Currently, there are a small number of recycling plants for PV modules in Europe, but none in the Balkan countries. The main reason for this is the small amount of PV waste in these countries, which is far below the profitability threshold for the recycling of 19,000 t/year, and even below the reduced threshold of 9000 t/year. The analysis shows that only seven EU member states will exceed this threshold by 2040, and more than half of the EU member states will not even reach this threshold by 2050. For this reason, PV modules (after dismantling the aluminum frame and cables) are mostly disposed of in landfills in these countries. This is an indication that this problem should be seriously addressed in the EU. In this context, the main obstacles to the reuse and recycling of PV modules are listed, together with guidelines for their removal.