[HN Gopher] Femtosecond Lasers Solve Solar Panels' Recycling Issue
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       Femtosecond Lasers Solve Solar Panels' Recycling Issue
        
       Author : westurner
       Score  : 16 points
       Date   : 2024-05-11 01:49 UTC (21 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (spectrum.ieee.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (spectrum.ieee.org)
        
       | westurner wrote:
       | > _Manufacturers globally are deploying enough solar panels to
       | produce an additional 240 gigawatts each year. That rate is
       | projected to increase to 3 terawatts by 2030, Ovaitt says. By
       | 2050, anywhere from 54 to 160 million tonnes of PV panels will
       | have reached the end of their life-spans, she says._
       | 
       | "Towards Polymer-Free, Femto-Second Laser-Welded Glass/Glass
       | Solar Modules" (2024)
       | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10443029 :
       | 
       | > [...] _Key to this finding is that the module must be framed
       | and braced, and the glass must be ribbed to allow pockets for the
       | cells and welds inside the border of the module. The result is a
       | module design that is completely polymer free, hermetically
       | sealed, has improved thermal properties, and is easily recycled_
        
       | KennyBlanken wrote:
       | Recycling isn't nearly the issue people think it is, because the
       | "lifetime" of a panel - 20, 30 years - is not when the panel
       | becomes useless, but when its output has dropped 20%.
        
         | abdullahkhalids wrote:
         | Some percentage of solar panels will become dysfunctional
         | because of extreme weather events.
        
           | margalabargala wrote:
           | There is no item, person, or place on Earth for which this is
           | not true. Few things could make something less special than
           | saying "sometimes, this thing is destroyed by extreme
           | weather".
        
       | brcmthrowaway wrote:
       | You've got to be kidding me. Solar panels are nonrenewable??
        
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       (page generated 2024-05-11 23:01 UTC)