Project description
A new way to valorise raw materials from photovoltaic waste
Photovoltaics (PV) represent a solution for carbon emissions reduction and mitigating climate change effects. However, the production of PV modules, including their high-value raw materials such as silicon and silver, is associated with high energy consumption and significant CO2 emissions. The French deep tech start-up ROSI aims to render PV into a circular economy by revalorising the wasted raw materials along the value chain. The EU-funded Ramp-PV project will propose an industrialised innovation consisting of an environmentally friendly and cost-effective process to revalorise highly pure silicon and silver. For silicon in particular, a strategic European raw material, several reuse routes into strategic industries, such as PV, electronics and battery storage, will be realised.
Objective
Worldwide urgent action is needed to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the consequences of climate change. French deeptech startup ROSI is committed to a circular economy of Photovoltaics (PV), which is decisive to render PV sustainable and to re-capture the PV value chain for Europe.
Presently, several high value raw materials composing PV modules, mainly silicon and silver, which are produced through high energy consuming and CO2 emission processes, suffer great value loss, because:
1. Sawing process to obtain silicon wafers from silicon ingots discards >40% of silicon in forms of nano/micrometer particles, disposed as industrial waste;
2. No valorization of high-value raw materials such as silicon and silver in end-of-life (EOL) PV modules is carried out.
The proprietary technological innovations and industrial know-how of ROSI lead to a full valorization of the raw materials from PV-waste, including:
1. Reconditioning of silicon from PV-waste for reintegration into various industries including PV, electronics, and silicone;
2. Non-destructive extraction of silver through non-toxic, low-cost and high yield process.
For fast and high-quality innovation deployment, ROSI positions itself as an operator carrying out recycling activities of PV-waste in the value chain. Its realization through co-investment with industrial partners into Joint-Ventures (JV) is the scalability booster.
The global development strategy of ROSI is based on construction of a series of PV-waste upcycling sites and carrying out of continuous RDTI (Research, development, technology, innovation) activities to maximize the added value of upcycled raw materials.
The roadmap implementation will contribute directly to EU Green Deal and sustainability goals, as well as to the recovery of European sovereignty on the PV and raw materials value chain. The vision of ROSI is to become global-leader in circular economy of PV in 5-10 years – a high-risk and courageous vision!
Fields of science
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrytransition metals
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrymetalloids
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicssustainable economy
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energysolar energyphotovoltaic
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
38000 Grenoble
France
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.