Photovoltaic Panel Recycling: Tests in the Pilot Plant in Venice and Silicon Applications for Ferroalloy Production

In 2020 9-Tech developed one of the most advanced technologies in Europe for recycling PV panels. In detail, the proposed technology is able to recover all the valuable materials contained in PV panels (aluminum, glass, copper ribbons, silver, silicon PV cells). The pilot plant, authorized by Veneto region in 2022, has been operating in 2023 showing good performances. The recovered PV cells contain mainly silicon that is a Critical and Strategic Raw Material, but the presence of aluminum paste and silicon nitride makes challenging its reuse. Therefore, several uses for silicon are being investigated under the PARSIVAL project, specifically in the photovoltaic sector, battery anode manufacture, and ferroalloy production use. In this work, the results of the tests in the pilot plant with the 9-Tech technology and the main findings regarding the possible use of the PV cells as reagent in STILLMETAL process for the production of ferrosilicon alloys are presented.