SOLAR MATERIALS has introduced its latest virtual platform, PV Waste Hub, to track the global PV waste
This centralized database offers data on installations, dismantling, and recycling of global PV assets
It also consists of a tool for data analysis and forecasting, which provides a scenario-based outlook of installation and expected volumes of decommissioned PV modules
SOLAR MATERIALS, a German PV module recycling startup, has launched PV Waste Hub, a virtual platform that provides data on the flow of PV waste across Europe and the rest of the world.
According to the company, it serves as a centralized database for installations, dismantling, and recycling of global PV assets, covering the full lifecycle of PV systems. This ‘data-driven’ platform reportedly provides transparent and updated data to policy makers, and recyclers, among others. Users can use this database and download it for free; however, the subscription-based premium version includes datasets that are ‘exclusive’, along with a tool for analytics and forecasting of data. These datasets include volumes of annual PV installation capacities from 2000 to 2024 with forecasts up to 2030, covering 12 major solar markets. In addition, the tool projects the market’s growth in both a ‘conservative’ and a ‘dynamic’ scenario. The latter takes into account political uncertainty, cost reduction, and trends of electrification demands. The tool also offers modeled data on the expected volume of decommissioned modules. It is categorized based on aging, technical failure, repowering, and damage from external occurrences. Additionally, it offers insight into the potential for recycling and recovering raw materials from these modules.
According to the company, a typical PV module contains more than 90% of recyclable materials, including glass, aluminum, silicon, and copper. It has developed a complete material separation process, including recovery of silver and glass. SOLAR MATERIALS added that it will also launch a visualization tool to map the flows of global raw materials in the future.
