Standard Practice for Sampling of Solar Photovoltaic Modules for Toxicity Testing

Importancia y uso:

6.1 The primary goal of this practice is to extract representative samples from PV modules for TCLP toxicity testing purposes in order to receive unbiased, comparable and repeatable toxicity test results from independent TCLP testing laboratories.

6.2 Solar photovoltaic (PV) modules in the United States and the world reaching end-of-life due to failure, underperformance or breakage due to extreme weather have to be recycled or otherwise safely disposed of following the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulation [United States, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Pub.L. 94–580, October 1976]. For end-of-life PV modules, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 1311 (TCLP) is used for waste characterization based on leaching potential under simulated landfill conditions.

6.3 Commercial PV modules contain compounds and alloys of various metals (for example, Ag, Al, Cd, Cu, Ga, In, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, Te, Zn) which are used in semiconductor compounds and electrical contacts.5 Modules that pass the EPA Method 1311 TCLP test, and state protocols (if applicable), can be disposed of in a regular landfill. Otherwise, they are classified as hazardous waste and must go through a more onerous and expensive disposal process. Currently, there is no national or international standard, nor a standardized protocol available for removal of test samples from PV modules for toxicity testing per the EPA Method 1311 standard.

6.4 The validity of the toxicity test results heavily depends on the location of extracted samples in the module, specifically within the laminate area, and the particle size of the extracted samples. Therefore, it is critical that the sample extraction procedure be properly designed to avoid biased or otherwise inaccurate toxicity test results.

6.5 The development and application of a homogeneous and representative sampling standard will help utilities and manufacturers to limit the number of variables and to obtain repeatable test results.

Subcomité:

E44.09

Volúmen:

12.02

Número ICS:

27.160 (Solar energy engineering)

Palabras clave:

disposal; lead; PV module; recycling; sampling; solar photovoltaic module; toxicity;