Photovoltaic recycling: the wave is still coming
Austria’s installed PV capacity grew by almost 6,500 per cent between 2010 and 2023. Those modules have a service life — and after that, an address.
Composition
What a photovoltaic module is made of
Almost three quarters of the weight is glass. That is also where the greatest technical challenge lies: the glass has to be recovered at the highest purity so that it can ideally go back into PV production.
Composition according to the Müller-Guttenbrunn Group; varies by module type and year of manufacture.
Why now
Yesterday’s installations are tomorrow’s waste stream
Photovoltaic modules last two to three decades depending on their design. What was installed in the 2010s will come back in the coming years — on a scale for which there are barely any treatment routes so far.
98.5 MWp
installed PV capacity in Austria in 2010
6,395 MWp
installed PV capacity in Austria in 2023
6,500 %
increase in just thirteen years
1,500 MWp
expected new installations in 2025 alone (upper estimate)
Calculator
What is inside your batch of modules
Enter the number of modules — the calculator shows capacity and material shares.
- Total mass —t
- Approximate installed capacity —kWp
- Glass —kg
- Plastics —kg
- Aluminium (frame) —kg
- Silicon —kg
- Other metals —kg
Basis of calculation
- Composition per the Müller-Guttenbrunn Group: 73 % glass, 12 % plastics, 10 % aluminium, 3 % silicon, 2 % other metals.
- Assumed mass per module: 20 kg.
- Assumed capacity per module: 400 Wp.
- Treatment certified to CENELEC, directly at the Amstetten site.
Mass and capacity per module vary considerably by type and year. For a binding calculation please tell us the manufacturer and module type.
Have working modules tested before treatment? See the reuse approach
Our route
Certified, and still not finished
Certified to CENELEC, available directly at the Amstetten site.
We have established a working recycling solution for PV modules — still the exception in Austria. Our development team is working on separating the individual components even better.
The hardest part is the glass: it makes up almost three quarters of the module, and only at high purity is it usable again in PV production. Anything below that is a downgrade — technically possible, but not the goal.
In parallel we are working with the startup 2ndcycle on a different approach: modules that still work should not be dismantled at all. Fully automated laboratory-grade testing decides whether a module gets a second life. Reuse beats recycling — here as everywhere.
Tell us what you have.
Whether you are delivering material, buying secondary raw materials or need a disposal route for an entire plant — send us the details. We usually reply the same working day.