Recycling Workshop

Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition May 19, 2010 OneRecycling company’s questions experience 2

 What is SolarWorld?  What is its recycling experience?  Where does recycling stand in the USA?  What might you ask about takeback in purchasing solar?  What else might you ask?

One of several refurbished buildings of a historical waterworks in Bonn that now house headquarters of holding company SolarWorld AG. SolarWorld in the world

 Single product, mission: Crystalline .  Vertically integrated – polysilicon, crystal, wafers, cells, modules, systems, projects.  1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in sales; 2,700-plus employees.  Factories/ventures in Germany, USA, South Korea, Qatar. SolarWorld in the USA

 Largest U.S. manufacturer of solar technology.  Pioneered U.S. photovoltaic manufacturing since 1975.  Plants in Hillsboro, Ore.; Camarillo, Calif.; Vancouver, Wash.  Hillsboro: 500 MW, 1,000 employees, $500 million.

Hillsboro site (U.S. headquarters) comprises former chip fabrication plant (right) and new building constructed in 2009. All four steps of PV manufactur- ing take place here. Bringing product full cycle

 SolarWorld recycling in Europe started 2001.  World’s first recycling site in Freiberg, Germany (2003).  Co-founded PV Cycle consortium in Europe to establish high- value recycling exceeding 85 percent by weight (2007).  Announced recycling in USA in 2006.  U.S. policy in development; low end-of-life returns. Recycling highlights

 Reprocessing plant recycles 1,600 tons of silicon a year.  Recycling recaptures 90 percent by weight of module materials.  Modules of recycled wafers save 30 % on production energy. Process steps

 Emission-controlled, heat-trapping incineration to remove EVA laminate, release component parts.  Manual disassembly/sorting of components – metals, glass, silicon.  Separation, treatment, pulverization of silicon in cells for re-use/remelt in new wafers.  Third-party recycling/reuse of component aluminum, glass, copper. Karsten Wambach, Solar- World’s recycling pioneer and president of PV Cycle, leads a tour of the recycling operation he built in Freiberg, Germany. Example: Chevetogne, Belgium, 2009

SolarWorld recycles 63-kilowatt system installed in 1983:  1,876 modules, 460 by 800 mm, double glass.  36 4-inch round cells.  Aluminum frame, silver metallization, soldered interconnectors and EVA lamination.

Glass: 66 % Aluminum: 18 % Plastics 10 % Cells: 3 % Junction box: 2 % Copper: 1 % Chevetogne outcomes

Recycling yields by module component materials

COMPONENT Input / Relative Output / Yield PARTS module amount module (%) (kg) (%) (kg) Glass 5.93 65.82 5.75 96.96 Plastic 0.94 10.43 -- -- Cells 0.26 2.89 0.22 84.62 Copper 0.9 1.00 0.07 77.78 Aluminum 1.58 17.54 1.58 100.00 J-box 0.21 2.33 -- TOTAL 9.01 100.00 7.62 84.57 U.S. outlook for returns

Demand calculation from pv recycling, llc*

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total Modules Collected - 11,677 23,616 29,333 36,176 43,691 51,929 61,442 71,787 Cumulative Modules Collected - 11,677 35,293 64,626 100,801 144,493 196,421 257,863 329,650

Figure 1: Silicon Module Manufacturing Locations & kW Installed by State

6 in Phoenix

PV Capacity

Data Sources: “Total Grid Connected PV Capacity (1993-2008)”, Company Location Interstate Council, Larry Sherwood Interstates April 2009 State boundary and Interstate spatial layers, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Atlas Database 2008 *Source: pv recycling compilation and analysis based on data from GreenTech Media, Interstate Renewable Energy Council, EPIA/BSW. U.S. recycling procedural/policy considerations

 Disassembly -- dismantling, palletization, packing.  Transport, both for collection and for reprocessing.  Storage.  Labeling -- policy and contact information.  Marketing -- consumer how-to information.  Balance of system – inverters, conduit, racking.  Product disassembly.  Recycling standards -- process and verification.  Fees – amounts, methodologies, responsibilities. Examples of recycling-specific questions

 Is product hazardous waste under state and U.S. law?  Will manufacturer take back and recycle product?  What is the process? Is product disassembled/sorted before it is pulverized? Is it instead shredded?  What is yield percentage of recycling process?  Which third parties inspect or audit process?  What is method/basis for any fees required for takeback? Examples of other product-specific questions

 Kilowatt hours produced per kilowatt installed?  Strength of performance guarantee – and finances to back it?  Construction: Press-fit frames vs. screws and caulking?  Percentage of individual product manufactured in the USA?  Regulatory context: Transparency on environmental issues? Examples of manufacturer-specific questions

 Voluntary participation on reporting initiatives?  Track record: Years of manufacturing experience?  Regulatory context, controls, accountability of supply chain?  ISO verifications: Manufacturing and environmental?  Labor: Context, pay, benefits, policies? Thank you