Sustainable end-of-life management of renewable
energy generation and storage technologies
The consultancy group members (CGM) of Renewable Energy Storage
Solutions (RESS) will discuss selected factors with Green Industries SA (GISA)
End-of-life sustainability project co-manager.
This presentation discusses about 3 factors to be considered for sustainable
end-of-life (EOL) management of renewable energy generation and storage
technologies.
• Waste management - Reduction in waste volume and challenges in waste
recovery
• Government policies - Necessity of government incentives and regulations
• Market development - Benefits of public-private partnerships and
recycling fees and decommissioning costs
Identified factors
• Waste management
• Government policies
• Market development
Waste management
▪ Waste management is factor to be considered for sustainable
end-of-life management of renewable energy generation and
storage technologies. In particular, reduction in waste volume
and challenges in waste recovery influences the sustainability of
waste management.
▪ Reduction in waste volume
▪ Challenges in waste recovery
▪ Improper management of photovoltaic (PV) waste results in the
loss of rare materials and the release of hazardous substances
causes environmental problems (D'Adamo et al. cited in Fiandra
et al. 2019, p. 91).
Fiandra, V, Sannino, L, Andreozzi, C, Graditi, G 2019, 'End-of-life of silicon PV panels: A sustainable materials recovery
process’, Waste Management, vol. 81, no.1, pp. 91-101.
Waste management, Reduction in waste volume
•
•
•
•
The reduction in waste volume at the EOL of energy systems are required to be
appropriately managed for the recycling to be economically and environmentally
sustainable.
Waste projection methods 🡪 reduces waste volume streams and factors such as
time of availability, material specifications and location data are required to design
appropriate sustainable recycling solutions (Beauson et al. 2022, p. 4).
For the PV recycling to be economically sustainable, the reduction of PV waste
fluctuations helps in keeping the overall volume of PV waste stream at a fixed rate
(Kim and Park 2018, p.12).
Implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and other legislations 🡪
the expected waste volume(↓) of wind turbine blades so that high amounts of
waste storage can be removed (Majewski et al. 2022, p. 6). This can improve
economic sustainability.
Beauson, J, Laurent, A, Rudolph, DP & Pagh Jensen, J 2022, ‘The complex end-of-life of wind turbine blades: A review of the
European context’, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 155, 111847.
Kim, H & Park, H 2018 'PV waste management at the crossroads of circular economy and energy transition: The case of
South Korea', Sustainability, vol. 10, 3565.
Majewski, P, Florin, N, Jit, J & Stewart, RA 2022, ‘End-of-life policy considerations for wind turbine blades’, Renewable &
Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 164, 112538.
Waste management, Challenges in waste recovery
•
•
•
•
The recovery from waste products at their end-of-life has many difficulties and the
method of waste management directly influences the profit margins based on the
recovery rates.
The recovery of hazardous materials ↔ specialized costs for recycling →
environmental impacts (Norgren et al. 2020, p. 764). Economic sustainability can
be promoted by reducing this specialized recycling costs.
The recovery of Silicon(Si) wafers from PV can be intact/broken in form and a
more circular approach is beneficial when Si wafers are recovered in intact form
due to the low energy consumption (Farrell et al. p. 10).
The diverse amount of waste products collected and sent through continuous
recycling processes 🡪 the quality of recovered materials (↓) (Piątek et al. 2021, p.
23). This reduced quality ↔ economic sustainability(↓).
Norgren, A, Carpenter, A & Heath, G 2020, ‘Design for recycling principles applicable to selected clean energy technologies:
crystalline-silicon photovoltaic modules, electric vehicle batteries, and wind turbine blades’, Journal of Sustainable
Metallurgy, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 761–774.
Farrell, CC, Osman, AI, Doherty, R, Saad, M, Zhang, X, Murphy, A, Harrison, J, Vennard, ASM, Kumaravel, V, Al-Muhtaseb, AH,
& Rooney, DW 2020 'Technical challenges and opportunities in realising a circular economy for waste photovoltaic
modules', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 128, 109911.
Piątek, J, Afyon, S, Budnyak, TM, Budnyk, S, Sipponen, MH & Slabon, A 2021, ‘Sustainable Li‐ion batteries: chemistry and
recycling’, Advanced Energy Materials, vol. 11, no. 43, 2003456.
Government policies
▪ Government policies is factor to be considered for
sustainable end-of-life management of renewable energy
generation and storage technologies. Government policies
include financial Support (incentives) and non-financial
Support (regulation)
▪ Necessity of government incentives
▪ Necessity of government regulation
Government policies, Government incentives
•
Government incentives is necessary for sustainable EoL management to be
financially feasible.
•
Government funding is one of the economic supports to maintain their
operation (Jiao & Evans 2016, p. 251).
•
Kim and park suggested in 2018 that PV module could be better for reuse and
recycle if Government rise the R&D funding on PV designs (2018, P.13).
•
Green taxation and subsidization could be introduced to make sure
green-product production has positive revenue.
- recycled-component suppliers under green subsidization should use low
wholesale-price strategies to stimulate the manufacturing of green products
under green taxation (Sheu & Chen 2012, p.201).
Jiao, N. and Evans, S., 2016. Business models for sustainability: the case of second-life electric vehicle batteries. Procedia
Cirp, 40, pp.250-255.
Sheu, J-B & Chen, YJ 2012, ‘Impact of government financial intervention on competition among green supply
chains’, International Journal of Production Economics, vol. 138, no. 1, pp. 201–213.
Government policies, Government regulation
•
Inappropriate or incomplete government policy or industry policy will interfere a
sustainable recycling process
•
Obrecht, Singh and Zorman (2021, p.13) has stated in 2021 that lack of
appropriate government regulation is the common barrier for EOL management.
•
the recycling process in Korea is not well-established, the status of PV module
operation is not currently monitored, however, nor was the generation of waste
from past PV installation calculated (Kim & Park 2018, P.13).
•
Governments could help to establish an accurate database in setting
collection and recycling targets -- allows governments to monitor the
effectiveness of their policies and to take immediate action when any
deviation occurs while also tracking PV modules (Khawaja et al. 2021, p.
199)
Khawaja, MK, Ghaith, M & Alkhalidi, A 2 0 2 1 , ‘Public-private partnership versus extended producer responsibility for endof-life of photovoltaic modules management policy’, Solar Energy, vol. 222, pp. 193–201.
Obrecht, M, Singh, R & Zorman, T 2021, 'Conceptualizing a new circular economy feature- storing renewable
electricity in batteries beyond EV end-of-life: the case of Slovenia', International Journal of Productivity and
Performance, vol. 71, no. 3, pp. 896-911.
Market development
Market development is a factor to be considered for sustainable end-of-life
management of renewable energy generation and storage technologies which can be
categorized into Benefits of
public-private partnerships and Recycling fees and
decommissioning costs.
• Benefits of public-private partnerships
•
Potential from reuse and recycling
Market Development, Benefits of public-private
partnerships
•
•
The creation of a value chain for stakeholders is one of the essential steps in a
successful plan for generating value from EoL solar PV panels. The resources and
skills of the public and private sectors should work together and complement one
another.
PPPs involving the government, business, and social organizations in particular
assist to accomplish the following goals.
•
Roles and duties in EoL solar PV panels are governed by policies, procedures, and
programs.
•
The reduction of PV waste was the main emphasis of the policies that established
the standards for solar panel providers.(Ndzibah et al. 2022, p.120 )
In the end, planning out waste and putting excellent eco-design into practice will
help create a fully circular economy for the resources needed to make PV
modules.(Farrell et al. 2020, p. 14)
•
Ndzibah, E, Andrea Pinilla-De La Cruz, G & Shamsuzzoha, A 2022, ‘End of life analysis of solar photovoltaic panel: roadmap
for developing economies’, International Journal of Energy Sector Management, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 112–128.
MARKET DEVELOPMENT, Potential from reuse and
recycling
● Solar PV makes a significant contribution to reducing the world's energy
consumption, but it must be properly disposed of to maintain environment.
● A suitable waste management strategy can be adopted to handle the waste
generated from PV panels and recover valuable materials from them rather than
disposing of them in landfills that pose environmental hazards. Solar PV can be
recycled and reused because of its valuable materials after the end of life
(EoL).(Ndzibah et al. 2022, p.113 )
● By adopting ecodesign regulations and green public procurement criteria, the
potential environmental effect of hazardous substances in PV modules in
situations of recycling or replacement for re-use may be reduced.(Franz &
Piringer 2020, p. 17)
● Materials included in EoL PV panels and BESS have the potential to reduce
production costs through reuse and recycling. (Salim et al. 2019, p. 548)
Franz, M & Piringer, G 2020, ‘Market development and consequences on end-of-life management of photovoltaic
implementation in Europe’, Energy, Sustainability and Society, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1–21.
Salim, HK, Stewart, RA, Sahin, O & Dudley, M 2019 'Drivers, barriers and enablers to end-of-life management of solar
photovoltaic and battery energy storage systems: A systematic literature review', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 221,
pp. 537-554.
Summary
Key Findings
Waste
Management
Factors to be
considered
for
sustainable
end-of-life
management
of renewable
energy
generation
and storage
technologies
Reduction in
waste volume
waste volume
Challenges
in waste
recovery
Government
Policy
financial support
(incentives),
non-financial
support
(regulation)
public-private
partnerships
Market
development
Potential from
reuse and
recycling
- Implementation of waste projection
methods, reducing fluctuations and
help of government legislations to
reduce waste volume.
- The recovery strategies helps in
reducing environmental impacts and
to promote economic sustainability.
- Government funding to maintain the
operation of end-of-life management.
- It is essential to make appropriate
government policy.
- Creating a value chain for
stakeholders is one of the important
steps in a successful End-of-life
management plan, and public-private
partnerships may be useful in
achieving this goal.
- For end-of-life management of PV,
reuse and recycling can reduce
potential environment effect and
promote economic sustainability .
References
Beauson, J, Laurent, A, Rudolph, DP & Pagh Jensen, J 2022, ‘The complex end-of-life of wind turbine blades: A
review of the European context’, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 155, 111847.
Farrell, CC, Osman, AI, Doherty, R, Saad, M, Zhang, X, Murphy, A, Harrison, J, Vennard, ASM, Kumaravel, V, AlMuhtaseb, AH, & Rooney, DW 2020 'Technical challenges and opportunities in realising a circular economy for
waste photovoltaic modules', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 128, 109911.
Fiandra, V, Sannino, L, Andreozzi, C, Graditi, G 2019, 'End-of-life of silicon PV panels: A sustainable materials
recovery process’, Waste Management, vol. 81, no.1, pp. 91-101.
Franz, M & Piringer, G 2020, ‘Market development and consequences on end-of-life management of
photovoltaic implementation in Europe’, Energy, Sustainability and Society, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1–21.
Jiao, N. and Evans, S., 2016. Business models for sustainability: the case of second-life electric vehicle
batteries. Procedia Cirp, 40, pp.250-255.
Khawaja, MK, Ghaith, M & Alkhalidi, A 2021, ‘Public-private partnership versus extended producer
responsibility for end-of-life of photovoltaic modules management policy’, Solar Energy, vol. 222, pp. 193–
201.
Kim, H & Park, H 2018 'PV waste management at the crossroads of circular economy and energy transition: The
case of South Korea', Sustainability, vol. 10, 3565.
Majewski, P, Florin, N, Jit, J & Stewart, RA 2022, ‘End-of-life policy considerations for wind turbine
blades’, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 164, 112538.
Ndzibah, E, Andrea Pinilla-De La Cruz, G & Shamsuzzoha, A 2022, ‘End of life analysis of solar photovoltaic
panel: roadmap for developing economies’, International Journal of Energy Sector Management, vol. 16, no. 1,
pp. 112–128.
Norgren, A, Carpenter, A & Heath, G 2020, ‘Design for recycling principles applicable to selected clean energy
technologies: crystalline-silicon photovoltaic modules, electric vehicle batteries, and wind turbine
blades’, Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 761–774.
Obrecht, M, Singh, R & Zorman, T 2021, 'Conceptualizing a new circular economy feature- storing renewable
electricity in batteries beyond EV end-of-life: the case of Slovenia', International Journal of Productivity and
Performance, vol. 71, no. 3, pp. 896-911.
Piątek, J, Afyon, S, Budnyak, TM, Budnyk, S, Sipponen, MH & Slabon, A 2021, ‘Sustainable Li‐ion batteries:
chemistry and recycling’, Advanced Energy Materials, vol. 11, no. 43, 2003456.
Salim, HK, Stewart, RA, Sahin, O & Dudley, M 2019 'Drivers, barriers and enablers to end-of-life management of
solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage systems: A systematic literature review', Journal of Cleaner
Production, vol. 221, pp. 537-554.
Sheu, J-B & Chen, YJ 2012, ‘Impact of government financial intervention on competition among green supply
chains’, International Journal of Production Economics, vol. 138, no. 1, pp. 201–213.