Reuse of SOLar PV Panels and EV Batteries for low cost decentralized energy solutions and effective Recycling of critical raw MATErials from their EoL products

Project Information

SOLMATE

Grant agreement ID: 101138374

DOI

10.3030/101138374

EC signature date 7 December 2023

Start date 1 January 2024

End date 31 December 2027

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 7 337 549,31

EU contribution

€ 6 104 918,10

Coordinated by

VLAAMSE INSTELLING VOOR TECHNOLOGISCH ONDERZOEK N.V.
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SOLMATE (Reuse of SOLar PV Panels and EV Batteries for low cost decentralized energy solutions and effective Recycling of critical raw MATErials from their EoL products)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Europe requires Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) to secure its green energy transition and achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

PV panels for clean energy generation and batteries for energy storage are key components for the green energy transition, while heavily dependent on CRMs. However, as the PV and EV markets have been developing fast in the last decade in Europe, a significant amount of secondary EV batteries and PV panels will be available for recycling. Traditional approaches that have been used so far to recycle them are focused on materials recovery, and less on the enormous potential for reuse in second life before recycling. Additionally, proposed recycling processes are still yet suffering from several issues related to the purity and efficiency of the processes as well as high cost and environmental aspects.

The overarching aim of the SOLMATE project is to set up solid foundations of a new industrial value chain for the sustainable reuse and recycling of PV solar panels and EV batteries in interesting emerging markets and high-added value applications.

The main objectives of SOLMATE are on one hand i) to develop and demonstrate viable and guaranteed low-cost decentralized energy systems for different emerging markets and business cases based on the reuse of batteries from EoL EV and used PV solar panels (i.e. repowering from PV farms), and on the other hand, ii) to demonstrate low cost and environmentally friendly technologies for improving the purity and increasing the recovery of raw materials (especially critical raw materials) from EoL EV batteries and PV that cannot be reused.

SOLMATE is designed to be fully aligned with the “waste hierarchy” principles as indicated in the Waste Framework Directive (Prevention, Reuse, Recycling, Recovery, Disposal).

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Within the first eighteen months of SOLMAE project implementation, quite positive progress towards achieving its strategic objectives has been achieved.

Namely, the three different use cases and business models were defined for decentralized energy systems based on second-life PV modules and EV batteries. Those are agrivoltaics setup including a battery (led by KU LEUVEN), at least three Plug-in PV setups including a battery system (led by SUN), and a Roof-top PV system with battery storage in a low-income community (led by W4E).

This work laid basis to prepare for the start preparation of demonstration of the three different use cases and business models for decentralized energy systems based on second life PV modules and EV batteries. Moreover, aspects of technical and economic conditions necessary for successful and replicable demonstrations are being explored and discussed.

Sourcing PV modules and EV batteries for the SOLMATE demonstrators and defining associated qualification protocols also took place. This included: Identification of PV modules or PV components batches done by SOREN and for EV batteries by W4E, followed by characterisation, qualification and selection of PV modules (CERTISOLIS and CEA), and for EV batteries by W4E. Adapted Energy Management System (EMS) is being developed by REVOLTA and W4E.

Focus on development of a qualification sequence for the second life PV modules enables to have PV batches fully characterized to highlight possible relations between defects and performance and to propose a light but adequate protocol. PV modules that successfully pass the tests will be divided according to the requirements of the SOLMATE demonstrators.

Specifically for the EV batteries focus, progress was made towards establishing the processes for sourcing end-of-life (EoL) EV batteries, assessing their condition, and determining their suitability for second-life applications through standardized characterization, testing, and qualification procedures. To this end, W4E developed a sequence of quick testing activities for anomaly detection as the first screening step. These preliminary tests were designed to quickly identify batteries with critical safety or functional issues before proceeding to more detailed assessments. Additional checks such as visual inspection for physical damage, connector and casing integrity assessments, polarity verification, and self-discharge rate tests were also carried out. Together, these tests allowed W4E to quickly flag unsafe or defective EV batteries, preventing further handling of units that could pose hazards or fail early in a second-life application. The second step involved a comprehensive State of Health (SoH) estimation to evaluate the remaining usable capacity and performance of the EV batteries. Further dynamic load profile tests were performed to simulate real-world operating conditions, along with temperature monitoring to identify abnormal thermal behaviour.

SOLMATE also started with the development of automated technologies for the on-site inspection and characterization of EoL PV modules, and the robotic sorting and dismantling of EoL PV modules.
Specifically, automated drone-based technologies for the inspection and characterization of end-of-life (EoL) PV modules were developed, in line with testing and certification protocols. This included drone-inspection workflow definition, with which it is possible to assign a quality label to each individual PV panel in a cost-effective and automated manner; Development of region-specific drone operational API in compliance with European Union Aviation Safety Association (EASA) regulations; and Integration of API for VITO-IFLIGHT communication.

Regarding the robotic system for sorting and dismantling EoL PV modules (expected to improve currently used PV panels on the market that are manually dismantled and sorted), progress done includes the design and engineering for dismantling and sorting PV modules from system-level concepts, detailed mechatronic design for the dismantling unit and required end-of-arm tooling, in parallel with preparing functional dismantling unit (under construction and ongoing) as well as integrating capability for antimony detection (XRF equipment based) in PV modules.

Work progressed on sorting EoL PV panels depending on their antimony content using XRF analyses so that the panels containing antimony can be processed in industrial PV recycling lines separately from the panels not containing antimony. Several samples of different PV panels were analysed. The results of first analyses showed only few samples were antimony free. Additionally, other potential end-users were identified for a potential use of such glass in the cement matrix of manufactured concrete as a substitute to sand, and in the ceramic industry.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Not applicable in M1-M18.
Identification of key needs to ensure further uptake and success will be addressed in the final KER and their potential exploitation plans resulting in D8.7 Final Innovation Management and Exploitation Plan.

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