1. Physical and Chemical Beneficiation for Recycling of Photovoltaic Materials Industrial relevance and appropriateness for the center: A new generation of low-cost products based on thin films of photoactive materials

A new generation of low-cost products based on thin films of photoactive materials (e.g., amorphous silicon, copper indium diselenide (CIS), cadmium telluride (CdTe), and film crystalline silicon) deposited on inexpensive substrates, increase the prospects of rapid commercialization. The PV industry has adopted a pro-active and long-term strategy to preserve the environmentally friendly nature of the industry. Manufacturing solar panels, especially CdS/CdTe thin-film PV modules, presents some health, safety and environmental (HSE) concerns which were the focus of numerous studies. One issue is decommissioning of PV modules at the end of their use. Modules are expected to last about 30 years and then will have to be decommissioned and disposed or re-used in some way [1]. Therefore, waste problems resulting from the large spread of solar cell modules, will most likely occur in the future [2].