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The rise in demand for photovoltaic panels and lithium-ion batteries will increase as countries seek to move away from fossil fuels and implement more clean energy.
For this reason, the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) emphasizes the importance of creating a robust circular economy for these technologies to mitigate demand for raw materials and reduce waste and environmental impacts.
According to the lab's researchers, circular economy strategies also have the potential to create clean energy jobs and address environmental issues.
These insights result from latest NREL analysis, based on more than 3 thousand scientific publications that explore the technology life cycle most common of photovoltaic and lithium-ion batteries, including starting materials, environmental impacts and end-of-life options.
Access the full study
A critical review of the circular economy for lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic modules – status, challenges and opportunities
According to this study, alternatives to recycling may have untapped potential to build a effective circular economy for solar photovoltaic and battery technologies thus reducing the use of virgin materials in manufacturing, reusing them in new applications and extending product life.
The analysis also points out that these actions can provide new paths for building sustainable product life cycles.
“If you can keep it as a functional product longer, it's better than deconstructing it down to the elements that occur during recycling. And when a product reaches the end of its useful life, recycling is not the only option,” he said. Garvin Heath, senior environmental scientist and energy analyst and distinguished member of the NREL research team.
Heath also points out that the deconstruction process consumes more energy and generates more associated greenhouse gas emissions to then build another product, rather than keeping the first product in use for longer.
The scientist also highlights that recycling to recover the materials used in technologies is preferable to disposing of them in a landfill, “but if we can think about designing a product to use fewer materials to begin with, or less dangerous materials, that should be the first strategy”, he analyzes.
“People often summarize the product life cycle as 'take, make, waste,'” says Heath. “Recycling has received a lot of attention because it addresses the waste part, but there are ways to support a circular economy in part and in part too”, he concludes.
Heath and the scientist Dwarakanath Ravikumar are the lead authors of the Air and Waste Management Association’s 52nd annual Critical Review, titled “A Critical Review of the Circular Economy for Lithium-Ion Batteries and Photovoltaic Modules – Status, Challenges and Opportunities”. His co-authors, also from NREL, are Brianna Hansen It is Elaine Kupets.
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