BNL52557 Photovoltaics and the Environment 1998 Report on the Workshop Photovoltaics and the Environment 1998 July 23-24, 1998 Keystone Inn, Keystone, Colorado Organized by Brookhaven Natior$Laboratory (BNL) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Thin Film Partnership Vasilis Fthenakis Ken Zwei be1 Paul Moskowitz February 1999 DEPARTMENT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ‘BROOKEKAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY UPTON, NEW YORK 11973 Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy Photovoltaic Energy Division Contract No. DE-AC02-98-CHI 0886 OFFICIAL FILE COPY DISCLAIMER This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, not any of their contractors, subcontractors, or their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeress, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any agency, contractor or subcontractor thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency, contractor or subcontractor thereof. BNL52557 Photovoltaics and the Environment 1998 Report on the Workshop Photovoltaics and the Environment 1998 . July 23-24,1998 Keystone Inn, Keystone, Colorado Organized by Brookhaven Natio;;LLaboratory (BNL) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Thin Film Partnership Vasilis Fthenakis Ken Zwei be1 Paul Moskowitz February 1999 DEPARTMENT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ‘BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY UPTON, NEW YORK 11973 Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy Photovoltaic Energy Division Contract No. DE-AC02-98-CH10886 Acknowledgment We would like to thank ail the workshop participants for their valuable input in the form of papers, presentations and discussions. This workshop was organized by the Brookhaven National Laboratory and National Renewable Energy Laboratory Thin Film Partnership. It was supported by the US Department of Energy, Photovoltaic Energy Division, Conservation and Renewable Energy, under the leadership of Jim Rannels. We are grateful to the DOE program managers for their encouragement and support. V.M. Fthenakis, K. Zweibel and P.D. Moskowitz CONTENTS Acknowledgement Objective . .............. 1 Background . ........... 1 The National Photovoltaic Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) Assistance Center . 1 The Thin Film Partnership . 1 Executive Summaries.. ................................................................................................................. .2 Session 1. Proactive Recycling: Near-term and Long-term Strategies.. .................................. .2 Session 2. PV for Greenhouse Gas Reduction: Issues, Barriers and Potential Solutions ...... ...4 Session 3. Million Roof Initiative: Potential EH&S Issues.. ................................................... .6 List of workshop organizers and participants . 8 Session 1. Proactive Recycling: Near-term and Long-term Strategies 1.1 Chris Eberspacher, Recycling of End-of-Life CdTe and Si PV Modules 1.2 John Bohland, Recycling as an Alternative to Disposal of PV Modules 1.3 Bob Goozner, Recycling Metals from CdTe and CIS PV Modules 1.4 Daniel Cunningham, Discussion about TCLP protocols 1.5 Simon Tsuo, Silicon Solar Cell and Module Manufacturing: Current and Alternative, More Environmentally Benign Processes 1.6 Jefferson Bagby, The Experience of the Rechargeable Recycling Battery Association 1.7 Hugh Morrow, International Cadmium Association, Worldwide Cadmium Recycling Session 2. PV for Greenhouse Gas Reduction: Issues, Barriers and PotentialSolutions 2.1 Eric Alsema, CO2 and Energy Payback of PV 2.2 Bjom Andersson, Materials Availability and Waste Streams for Large Scale PV 2.3 Robert Williams, PV and the Competition in 2 1st Century 2.4 Vasilis Fthenakis, MARKAL-MACRO: A Computer Tool for Integrated Energy- Environmental-Economic Analysis 2.5 Steve Johnson, Meeting Very Low Cost Goals for Cost-Effective PV Session 3. Million Roof Initiative: Potential EH&S Issues 3.1 Ward Bower, PV Installations: Electrical Issues and Codes 3.2 Paolo Frankl, Analysis of Energy/CO2 Aspects of Building Integration 3.3 Christi Herig, The Million Roof Initiative: Current Status WORKSHOP OBJECTIVE The objective of the workshop “Photovoltaics and the Environment” was to bring together PV manufacturers and industry analysts to define EH&S issues related to the large-scale commercialization of PV technologies. WORKSHOP BACKGROUND The National Photovoltaic Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) Assbtance Center The National Photovoltaic EH&S Assistance Center is operated at BNL, under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), to foster the safe and environmentally friendly operation of photovoltaic facilities and products, extending from R&D to manufacturing and use. The objectives of the Center are to prevent accidents, to reduce EH&S occupational and public risks, and lower the environmental- and safety-related costs. The BNL Center undertakes the following types of activities: 1. It directly supports DOE Headquarters, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) to ensure that their facilities and those of their contractors are operated in an environmentally responsible manner. 2. It conducts EH&S audits, safety reviews and incident investigations, as needed. 3. It assists the photovoltaic industry to identify and examine potential EH&S barriers and hazard- control strategies for new photovoltaic material, process and application options before their large-scale commercialization. To facilitate the transfer and application of knowledge derived from this work, BNL hosts workshops, tutorials and symposia, uses electronic mail and a web page, and publishes articles in the peer-reviewed journals. The current workshop is one of these “industry outreach” activities. The Thin Film Partnership The Thin Film PV Partnership is the main program funded by DOE to support R&D in thin film options, such as amorphous silicon, cadmium telhnide, and copper indiurn diselenide. The Partnership funds in subcontracts to leading companies and universities to perform this research. Subcontractors are categorized as Technology Partners if they are companies with commercial or near-commercial thin films. Others are categorized as R&D Partners, and they undertake work that will keep further advances in the pipeline for the future. The members of the Partnership work on technology-specific National R&D Teams in collaboration with NREL in-house researchers; these teams are directed to solve critical fundamental and technological problems. An additional cross- cutting team, the Thin Film Partnership ES&H Team, is made up of the Technology Partners and others with commercial interests, as well as invitees, who address ES&H challenges together. The workshop in Keystone was one of their activities, planned jointly with BNL. 1 THE WORKSHOP The workshop was opened by BNL’s Paul Moskowitz who welcomed the participants and emphasized the need for open discussion and cotlaboration on EH&S issues among all industry players. Executive Summaries Session 1: Proactive Recycling: Near-term and Long-term Strategies To safeguard the environmental friendliness of photovoltaics, the PV industry follows a pro-active, long-term environmental strategy involving a life-of-cycle approach to prevent environmental damage by its processes and products from “cradle to grave.” Recycling manufacturing waste and spent PV- modules is examined as part of this strategy. Although the PV industry will not face this problem in a large scale before the year 2020, today’s choices of materials and module designs may very well set a precedent for the future. The session was chaired by Vasilis Fthenakis, BNL who briefly summarized the previous studies and work on recycling. The first workshop on recycling was organized by BNL and NREL and was held in March 1992 at Golden, CO. The 1992 workshop focused on Cd and Se and brought together interested parties from the PV industry, the metal-smelting industry, the utilities, the DOE, and the national laboratories. It established the state-of- current-affairs and provided a foundation for the infrastructure and technical feasibility studies, which were conducted by BNL, UNISUN, Solar Cells Inc. and Drinkard Metalox Inc. between 1993 and 1998. In April 1994, BNL and NREL hosted a workshop that focused on understanding and managing the health and environmental risks of CIS, CGS and CdTe module production and use. The 1994 workshop covered the toxicology of these new materials, and the pertinent implications to occupational health and the environment. This workshop identified the need to examine regulatory drivers and constraints to recycling. The first session of the current workshop expanded on all these issues. The papers presented gave industry’s perspectives and analyses of the collection and recycling infrastructure, regulatory concerns, technical feasibility, economic incentives, and costs. In the open discussion forum different opinions from the industry participants were heard and discussed.