Dr. Jin-Seok Lee and his researchers at the energy conversion & storage materials laboratory of Korea Institute of Energy Research (President Jong-Nam Kim) developed a recycling technology for end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) panels.

The technology can be operated at room temperature to reduce energy consumption to one-third of the existing process and recovers high-quality materials, resulting in a 2.5 times increase in profitability.

The recycling technology for end-of-life photovoltaic panels newly developed by the researchers reduces power consumption by 64% per year compared to the existing thermal process by separating the panels using a scraper at room temperature. In addition, since it is a non-crushing method, it is capable of recovering high-purity substances by fundamentally blocking the possibility of mixing parts and materials due to crushing and grinding at source.

※ Contact : Jin-seok Lee, Principal researcher (jslee@kier.re.kr)