Solar Panel Recycling in Milwaukee
Solar Panel Recycling in Milwaukee
Solar panels and their batteries empower numerous trades all over America. Currently, solar energy is the world’s best renewable resource. Additionally, it builds domestic markets, curtails carbon emissions, and does not require much maintenance.
Industry experts refer to solar panels as photovoltaic or PV cells. The solar industry is perpetually evolving as more people and companies seek out green energy.
These solar devices are becoming ever more essential, but also increasing the amount of waste over time. This leads to the demand for solar panel recycling in Milwaukee.
The Recycling Process
Recycling solar panels helps recover over 80 percent of a crystalline silicon unit from each solar panel. Silicon solar items generally have glass, plastic, and aluminum. Retrieving these three parts is common. Thus, there is an increasing demand of solar panel recycling in Milwaukee. Furthermore, solar panels can endure for nearly 30 years. After which, their efficiency dwindles. Recycling solar devices involves advanced equipment. Therefore, it should be done precisely to be profitable.
The practice of solar panel recycling includes:
- Removing the frame
- Separation of the glass along a conveyor belt
- Thermal processing to evaporate the plastic
- Etching silicon wafers
This procedure recovers valuable elements, such as aluminum and glass. In addition, this practice recovers 95% of the glass from the solar panels. Secondly, thermal processing splits up the worthless plastic from the important items. Lastly, etching the silicon wafer removes any undesirable bits left behind.
Solar Panel Life Cycle
The scientific improvement of solar panels seem to be parallel with the growth of the industry. Furthermore, solar devices have various ways to evaluate effectiveness and productivity.
Their lifespan can range from:
- 10 – 12 years: efficiency declines by upwards of 10 percent
- 15 – 20 years: efficiency declines by 20 percent
- 25 – 30 years: efficiency declines significantly
Just like a car, the lifespan of solar panels is dynamic, not static. For instance, advanced solar panels can operate for effectively 40 years.
Yet, as they age, their performance starts to decline.
Recycling Solar Panel Batteries
Not all solar panels need batteries to work. However, many panels have them as a backup measure. Likewise, recycling batteries proves to be imperative. On the other hand, solar panel batteries defile our soil if improperly discarded. At the core of all solar batteries is lithium. It is a comparatively uncommon reserve that afflicts the environment.
If solar panel batteries are irresponsibly abandoned, toxic waste will be created. Which can do great damage to the environment. Not only that, but also recyclable pieces are lost. That alone should encourage businesses to recycle solar panels and the pieces that empower them.
Interco Provides Solar Panel Recycling in Milwaukee
In summary, solar panel recycling is necessary for longevity. The use of solar panels provides the environment the natural power it needs to sustain life. Especially seeing that solar panels replace the infamous fossil fuels. Innovative institutions must find the best center for solar panel recycling in Milwaukee.
Interco recycles solar panels and returns the newly recycled raw materials back to the industrial world. In the United States, Interco is a leader in solar panel recycling. Interco recycles more than 250,000 solar panels each year. For more information, click here to contact Interco.