5.1.3 Design for Recycling and End-of-Life

• Investigate alternative encapsulant materials with improved ability to recycle

• Investigate encapsulant-free module technologies such as the New Industrial Solar Cell Encapsulation (N.I.C.E) technology from Apollon Solar, a partner in the program, • Develop modified cell architectures designed to integrate with module technologies for improved recyclability such as copper plated contacts as cell technologies push towards lower silver consumptions, which could affect the economics of recycling. 2030 Objectives

• Fabricate a PV module featuring solar cells with silver consumption <5 mg/W that can be readily disassembled for recycling.

• Evaluate the use of encapsulants other than EVA

• Fabricate a PV module featuring no encapsulant

• Evaluate potential barriers in manufacturing the PV modules