SOPHIA is a Horizon Europe funded project focusing on the problem of photovoltaic panels End of Life. The SOPHIA project aims to implement Advanced Digital Solutions in end-of-life solar panels, involving the full value chain, in order to increase their current reuse, repair and recycling rates. For the evaluation of their State-of-Health (SoH), a prototype will be developed for a fast evaluation of its efficiency, black areas and main damages. Solar panels with remain efficiency >80% will be repaired using a robot-assisted equipment and high performance dielectric varnish. The non-reparable ones will be recycled using innovative technologies to maximize the separation of their main components (glass, silicon & metals and plastics).
For the case of the glass fraction an in-line antimony quantification system will be implemented to maximize their valorization. Furthermore, to achieve the goals and the high circularity of the panels in the long term, a new eco-designed and easy dismantling solar panel using tailor-made debonding on-demand adhesives will be developed.
To achieve a full panels traceability, a digital platform will be developed to implement Digital Product Passport (DPP) in new and repaired solar panels, as well as the collection of information to trace current panels without DPP.
Thanks to the traceability and information available in the DPP, the panels and components will be more easily identifiable, hence they will be repaired or recycled, increasing the quality of the obtained secondary raw materials thought to obtain high purity fractions, thus reducing waste generation.
The repaired and ecodesigned panels and upcycled fractions from EoL PV panels will be put up for sale on a specific marketplace, supporting each product by a DPP system.
The consortium of SOPHIA project is made up of 15 partners from 8 countries with a wide knowhow and expertise in different areas covering the whole value chain to implement all solutions.
CIDETEC’S role in the project:
The work CIDETEC Surface Engineering is focused in WP1 and WP4. In the former, CIDETEC will develop a dielectric varnish as the leader of Task 1.4 for the reparation of the broken solar panels, ensuring a good adherence to the glass. In WP4, in contrast, CIDETEC will develop a debondable adhesive on demand in order to substitute the traditional adhesives of solar panels. In this case, as the leader of Task 4.2, a resin based on reversive chemical bonds will the developed to obtain an adhesive which can be easily removed under certain temperatures.