Method for recycling solar panel, and device for recycling solar panel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023339001-A1
Application number	US-202118016515-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 27, 2021
Priority date	Sep 28, 2020
Publication date	Oct 26, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method and device for recycling a solar panel with which a cover glass is separated efficiently from the solar panel, the method including: [ 1 ] ascertaining feature quantities of the solar panel, including the thickness of a cover glass and the hardness of the cover glass; [ 2 ] setting a process condition on the basis of the feature quantities of the solar panel; and [ 3 ] separating the cover glass from the solar panel by imparting an impact force to the solar panel by means of a processing medium, on the basis of the process condition.

First claim

1 . A method for recycling a solar panel comprising:
ascertaining a feature amount of the solar panel including a thickness of a cover glass and a hardness of the cover glass; setting a processing condition based on the feature amount of the solar panel; and based on the processing condition, applying an impact force to the solar panel by means of processing media to separate the cover glass covering a surface of the solar panel from the solar panel.

2 . The method for recycling a solar panel according to claim 1 , wherein:
the processing media is multiple particles with a diameter of 0.6 to 3.0 mm; and separation of the cover glass from the solar panel comprises: causing the processing media to collide with the solar panel to form a crack in the cover glass; further causing the processing media to collide with the solar panel to grow the crack; and further causing the processing media to collide with the solar panel to remove the cover glass from the solar panel in particulate form.

3 . The method for recycling a solar panel according to claim 1 , comprising separating broken pieces of the cover glass from particles including the processing media that was used for separation of the cover glass and broken pieces of the cover glass that was separated.

4 . The method for recycling a solar panel according to claim 1 , wherein the processing condition includes an energy when the processing media collides with the solar panel.

5 . The method for recycling a solar panel according to claim 4 , wherein:
a Vickers hardness of the processing media is 350 to 550 HV; and the energy when colliding with the solar panel is 1.0×10 −3 to 5.3×10 −1 J.

6 . The method for recycling a solar panel according to claim 4 , wherein:
the Vickers hardness of the processing media is 60 to 150 HV; and the energy when colliding with the solar panel is 9.0×10 −4 to 5.0×10 −1 J.

7 . A device for recycling a solar panel comprising:
an impact force applying mechanism that applies an impact force to a solar panel by means of processing media; an input portion that inputs a feature amount of the solar panel including a thickness of the cover glass and a hardness of the cover glass; and a control portion that controls the impact force applying mechanism, wherein the control portion sets a processing condition based on the feature amount of the solar panel and, based on the processing condition, controls an operation of the impact force applying mechanism to separate the cover glass covering a surface of the solar panel from the solar panel.

8 . The device according to claim 7 , wherein the impact force applying mechanism projects the processing media that is multiple particles having a diameter of 0.6 to 3.0 mm toward the solar panel.

9 . The device according to claim 8 comprising:
a first separating mechanism that performs separation into broken pieces of the cover glass that was separated from the solar panel and the processing media, and the solar panel from which the cover glass was separated; and
a second separating mechanism that separates the broken pieces of the cover glass from the broken pieces of the cover glass and the processing media that were separated by the first separating mechanism.

Assignees

• Sintokogio Ltd

Inventors

• Miyako Takeru

Classifications

• H10F19/80

  Encapsulations or containers for integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, having photovoltaic cells · CPC title

• B03B9/061

  the refuse being industrial · CPC title

• B09B3/35 Primary

  Shredding, crushing or cutting · CPC title

• B09B2101/15

  Electronic waste · CPC title

• B09B3/30 Primary

  involving mechanical treatment (involving an extraction step B09B3/80) · CPC title