Promoting a circular economy in the solar photovoltaic industry using life cycle symbiosis

Abstract As society works to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, the demand for renewable energy has grown rapidly in recent years. Photovoltaic (PV) solar power is one such source of renewable energy and has seen significant growth over the past several decades. While End of Life (EoL) PV volumes remain relatively small at this time, the number of EoL PVs is estimated to grow dramatically in the near future. This raises concerns about the management of EoL PVs. Effective EoL management methods need to be aggressively developed and implemented in order to prevent large volumes of hazardous wastes from being disposed in landfills. At the same time, PV waste can also be viewed as a potential source of valuable materials. The development of effective processing technologies to isolate these materials will help divert waste away from landfills while reducing dependence on virgin resources and enhancing economic sustainability. This paper proposes the circularization of the PV industry by applying the notion of Life Cycle Symbiosis (LCS), an extension of Industrial Symbiosis (IS). By identifying waste streams that may have value as potential raw material/feedstock, through the development of collaborative business/economic interactions among a diverse set of organizations, we have applied LCS in the context of EoL PVs. The avoided global warming potential (GWP) and ecotoxicity impacts 2750 kg CO2 eq and 32,000 CTUe per metric ton of EoL PVs respectively, while the water savings and electricity savings were 37,735.65 m3 and 3615.11 MJ per metric ton of EoL PVs.