17:10 min, talk by Andrew Waugh in March 2020.
One advantage of photovoltaics is that they can supply electricity for decades if installed and components are selected correctly. If photovoltaic modules are no longer used to generate solar power due to damage or age, they must be disposed of properly in accordance with the German Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG). After all, they contain valuable raw materials.
"The recycling of solar modules is technically feasible today. Specialised waste management companies can recycle old modules in such a way that the raw materials they contain can be fed almost completely into a production process as secondary raw materials," says Carsten Körnig, Managing Director of the German Solar Industry Association (BSW). "It is therefore important that discarded modules are channelled into the materials cycle. Owners of photovoltaic systems, installers and operators of collection centres can find out where old modules can be handed in and what needs to be considered in our new information sheet."
For example, modules from private households can be disposed of free of charge at designated collection points such as recycling centres or the take-back centres of manufacturers and distributors. "As an electrical voltage is generated when light falls on the active cell layer in photovoltaic modules, it is important to handle dismantled modules for disposal with care," says Körnig. For example, module cables should be secured, modules should be carefully stacked and, if necessary, provided with edge protection. "The solar-active side of the module should always face downwards when stacking, and open contacts and damaged backsheets should be insulated before removal."
More than 1.7 million photovoltaic systems are in operation in Germany. Under normal conditions, a photovoltaic module can reliably supply climate-friendly electricity for at least 25 years, and usually much longer. The industry association therefore does not expect to see a large number of old modules for a good ten years.
The free information paper "Safe handling of old PV modules" is available at
www.solarwirtschaft.de/fileadmin/user_upload/bsw_hinweispap_altmodule.pdf
Keywords:
100% EEs, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, Sustainable management, New books and studies, PV, Recycling, Resource efficiency, Environmental policy
Berlin's municipal utility is clearly picking up the pace in the expansion of solar installations in the capital. The municipal green electricity producer exceeded the 10 megawatt threshold at the end of September.
Since the commissioning of their first solar plant on a GESOBAU house on Rolandstraße in Pankow, the output installed by the municipal utility has thus increased exactly a hundredfold. Behind the 10 megawatts peak (MWp) built, which corresponds to around one tenth of all solar power installed in Berlin from large to single-family homes, are more than 150 individual systems.
Around 4.3 MWp of the 10 MWp were erected for tenant electricity systems with housing associations and cooperatives as well as homeowners' associations. In these projects, tenants or owners can obtain the electricity generated on their own roofs directly and particularly cost-effectively and thus contribute to the energy transition themselves. Around 5.7 MWp have been installed on state-owned properties - schools, sports halls, administrative and cultural buildings, prisons and fire and police stations.
All of the plants constructed by Berliner Stadtwerke have a combined module area of 80,000 m² or 8 hectares, which is equivalent to a good eleven football pitches. The plants completed to date save the atmosphere around 4,900 tonnes of CO2. By the end of the year, Berliner Stadtwerke plans to install a further 2 MWp of connected solar capacity.
Source: PM from 04.10.2019
Keywords:
Stock, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, Communities, Tenant electricity, News Blog Berlin, PV, Quarters, Settlements, City, Environmental policy, Ecology
Association of the German Wood-Based Panel Industry e.V.
3:08 min. published on 8.3.2017
Keywords:
Movies, Movies < 4 Min, Wood construction, Climate protection, Media
The state of Rhineland-Palatinate is launching a solar offensive with a 5-million-euro funding programme for private and municipal solar storage systems.
Today, 9 October 2019, Energy Minister Ulrike Höfken and the Rhineland-Palatinate Energy Agency officially launched the Solar Offensive, which is to take effect at various levels. The Minister presented the solar storage programme as a central component of the offensive. "With the programme, we support private households and municipalities in installing new photovoltaic systems combined with battery storage. In this way, we want to promote the self-supply of municipalities with their properties such as climate schools and private individuals with self-generated PV electricity and its storage," said Höfken.
The funding can be applied for at the Rhineland-Palatinate Energy Agency at: www.energieagentur.rlp.de/solarspeicher
Keywords:
DE-News, Energy storage, Renewable, Funding, Climate protection, News Blog RLP, PV, PlusEnergy house/settlement, Electricity storage, Ecology
