Parsival

Photovoltaic panels

Apulia, Batteries, Battery Anodes, Ferroalloys, Photovoltaic cells, Photovoltaic panels recycling, Refurbishment, RIS capacity building, Silicon

The Parsival project is a two-year RIS Capacity Building project, which began on January 1, 2023 and coordinated by 9-Tech.

The objective of the project is to mobilize the triangle of knowledge (education, research and innovation) and create a network on a European scale around the challenge relating to the recovery and reuse of materials obtained from end-of-life photovoltaic panels, in particular silicon ( Critical Raw Material).

RIS capacity building projects, in particular, must have as goal the solution of territorial issues about procurement, recycling and reuse of raw materials in RIS (Regional Innovation Scheme) areas.

Apulia is in a RIS area (Southern Italy) and the disposal of end of life panels is an emergin issue:

2.9 GW of installed photovoltaic power

First Italian region for photovoltaic power

Early 2000s

Boom in photovoltaic installations

25 years

Average life time of a photovoltaic panel

Significant quantity of panels to be disposed of in the years to come

245,000 tons of decommissioned photovoltaic panels to be managed within the next 15 years

Lack of treatment plants

For now there are no treatment plants for this waste in Puglia: this problem is common to other European regions, for example Extremadura in Spain which is also a RIS area.

The project aims to build the framework for refurbishment and recycling facilities for end-of-life photovoltaic panels in these areas. In this way it will be possible to allocate the repairable panels to a second life and the materials, recovered from the no longer reusable panels, to different supply chains. For silicon, three different applications will be studied during the project:

silicon-based ferroalloys;
material for battery anodes;
production of new photovoltaic cells.

The success of the project, which also includes an educational part, may benefit these areas but also other European countries.

Celle di pannelli fotovoltaici riciclate

Partners of the project

Four partners are involved from four countries (Italy, France, Germany, Spain):

9-TECH (IT)

Coordination.
Feasibility study to implement its own recycling process in Apulia Region.
Supply of the recovered silicon/aluminum cells to study different applications.

ENEA (IT)

Research on a treatment process to make recovered silicon suitable for application in lithium-ion battery anodes.
Communication and dissemination activities.

CEA (FR)

Support to the feasibility study for the implementation of a photovoltaic panel treatment plant in the Apulia Region to repair and reuse end-of-life modules.

ERION (IT)

Analysis of photovoltaic installations in Apulia and forecast of photovoltaic waste streams.
Contribution to the feasibility study for the implementation of a photovoltaic reprocessing/recycling plant in Apulia.

JPM SILICON (DE)

Validating purification processes to make recovered silicon suitable for various applications, especially photovoltaic.

FUNDACION GOMEZ PARDO (ES)

Study to apply the results of studies in Spain, Extremadura.

UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA (IT)

Research on a treatment process to produce silicon-based Ferroalloys from recovered photovoltaic cells.
Training and scientific dissemination activities.