The Ecoprogetti of Italy has developed an automated photovoltaic recycling line that separates and repairs up to 100% of the aluminum, copper, glass, plastic and silicon in solar panels. It can process a maximum of 60 panels per hour while it uses 40% less energy than other solutions on the market.
The Italian provider of solar production equipment Ecoprogetti has developed an automatic system for recycling solar panel.
A spokesperson for Ecoprogetti told PV -Magazine That the company “has developed real industrial recycling factories, designed to work continuously, reliable and with high productivity.”
Since 2024, Ecoprogetti has been sending more than one of the systems per month, the spokesperson added, with active installations in Italy, Spain, Greece and other South European countries.
The plant is designed to recycle solar panels with double glass and glass backsheet. The line is both flexible and scalable, thanks to an adjustment system that makes the processing of panels of different sizes and a traceability system for barcode possible.
It has a total of seven recycling machines. The first removes connection boxes from photovoltaic panels, while the second PV module frames removes and the third removes the majority of the front glass from the PV laminate.
Ecoprogetti
The following three machines provide the separation of metals, then the division and the collection of materials. According to data on the Ecoprogetti website, the recycling line has a conversion rate of 100% aluminum, 99% of both copper and glass, 98.5% of plastic and 95% of silicon from the panels.
The final machine in the line removes fine particles that were generated during the recycling process and records remaining substance by means of very efficient filters.
Ecoprogetti says that the recycling line also uses 40% less energy on the market to process a maximum of 60 solar panels per hour. “
The factory requires 500 m² installation space, 160 kW power and two operators, the website of the company adds and is supplied with a payback time between one and two years.
According to figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena (, by 2050 to 80 million tonnes of solar panels will be at the end of the lifespan. In Italy, the volume of PV waste is expected to reach 2.2 million tonnes by the same year.
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