Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. has joined the PV CYCLE association, an organization engaged in establishing a voluntary take-back and recycling program for end-of-life PV modules.
‘Sustainability and minimizing the impact of energy generation on the environment are two of the key principles driving the development of solar energy,’ states Jerry Stokes, Suntech's vice president of strategy and business development. ‘We believe that module life-cycle management and comprehensive recycling is a natural extension of these concepts.’
With the first significant solar installations occurring in the early 1990s, full-scale end-of-life recycling is still another 10 to 15 years away, according to Suntech. Nevertheless, the PV CYCLE association is already developing concrete plans to develop a recycling program that minimizes waste and maximizes re-use of valuable resources such as glass, silicon and aluminum.
SOURCE: Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd.
