Experimental study on PV module recycling with organic solvent method

We propose an organic solvent method to recover silicon cells from conventional crystalline silicon PV modules. From dissolution tests of EVA by various kinds of organic solvents, it was found that trichloroethylene could dissolve cross-linked EVA sample kept at 80°C. Applying this method to “one cell” module (125×125 mm), it was found that mechanical pressure is important to suppress swelling of the EVA. After immersing the module in trichloroethylene at 80°C for 10 days, we have successfully recovered the silicon cell without any damage.