A major obstacle to solar module recycling is the cost associated with collecting and processing end-of-life modules. Our group recently reported a multi-step recycling process to breakdown wafer-Si modules and recover all the valuable, bulky and toxic materials including solar-grade Si, Ag, Al frame, glass, Cu, Sn and Pb. This paper presents a study on the financial and environmental sustainability of our recycling process. At today's prices for Ag and solar-grade Si, this process can produce at least $15/module from the recovered materials and potentially enable a profitable recycling business for Si modules without any government support. The risk in recycling revenue is future Ag-free modules and lower solar-grade Si prices, but additional revenues can be generated by recovering the glass unbroken and clean, resulting in $17.50/module in revenue. A network for collecting end-of-life modules is proposed based on the current distribution network for solar modules to contain the collection cost. To avoid HF wastes from the recycling process, alternatives need to be found for the fluoropolymer backsheet and SiN_x layer in Si modules.
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