This company utilizes patented, chemical-free thermo-mechanical technology to recycle end-of-life silicon solar panels. Their process achieves a 98% recovery rate for valuable materials like silver, silicon, and high-purity glass. By supplying secondary raw materials, they significantly reduce the CO2 footprint compared to using virgin resources in manufacturing.
Funding
$16M raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
BVFounders
Product
Problem
The increasing deployment of solar panels globally is creating a future problem: what to do with them at end of life. Current recycling methods recover only a fraction of the materials, losing valuable components like silver and silicon and failing to create a truly circular economy for solar energy. This results in both environmental and economic losses.
Solution
Solar Materials addresses the solar panel waste challenge with its patented thermo-mechanical recycling technology, which recovers 98% of the raw materials from silicon solar panels. Unlike traditional shredding and sorting approaches, Solar Materials' process separates the different components of solar panels without the use of chemicals, enabling the recovery of high-purity glass, aluminum, copper, plastics, silver, and silicon. The recovered materials can then be reused in new solar panels or other applications, reducing the need for virgin materials and minimizing CO2 emissions. Their technology transforms end-of-life solar panels into a valuable resource stream, contributing to a circular economy within the solar industry.
Target Audience
Solar Materials targets solar panel manufacturers, solar farm operators, waste management companies, and other stakeholders in the solar industry seeking sustainable and economically viable recycling solutions.
Features
- Patented thermo-mechanical recycling process for silicon solar panels
- High recovery rate of 98% of raw materials
- Recovery of high-purity glass suitable for container glass applications
- Recovery of aluminum, copper and plastics
- Recovery of valuable materials such as silver and silicon
- Chemical-free process, minimizing environmental impact
- Automated pilot line with a capacity to process up to 3,000 tons of solar panels annually
- Construction of a new facility capable of recycling up to 10,000 tons of panels per year