Life Cycle Assessment of Two Experimental Recycling Processes for c-Si Solar Modules

In this work we calculate and compare the environmental impacts of two experimental recycling processes for c-Si PV modules using organic (toluene - C7H8) and inorganic (nitric acid - HNO3) solvents. The environmental impacts are estimated following the LCA methodology using available LCI data from the Ecoinvent database (version 3.2) complemented with experimental data from the Laboratory of Corrosion, Protection and Recycling of Materials (LACOR - Brazil) and the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at UNSW Sydney. Results show that electricity from non-renewable sources has the largest contribution to the environmental impacts of both recycling routes, which might be reduced with the use of renewable sources of electricity. Although the comparative impact of the used chemicals is small, they still represent harm to humans and the environment, toluene in particular.