Current challenges and future perspectives of solar-PV cell waste in Bangladesh

This study focused on the current situation and management after the end-of-life solar photovoltaic (PV) module in Bangladesh. The solar PV cells have a lifetime to serve properly, which is about 15-25 years from installation. Solar PV cell has recycling potentiality as well as the risk of producing hazardous wastes. After the end-of-life, the solar panel would turn into waste, specifically e-waste, which might be an environmental concern in the long run. Thus, it is crucial to estimate the waste production and to delineate the environment-friendly management. Therefore, this study aims to visualize the present status of solar PV cells, potential waste generation, and their management perspectives in Bangladesh. We also studied the existing policy of waste management. This study followed a mixed methodological approach, including the key informant interview (KIIs), synthesis of existing literature-based findings, stakeholder consultation and secondary data inventory. From the results, it was found that Bangladesh has huge potential to generate solar PV-based e-waste in the near future that needs to be tackled with high priority. A total about 33205.36 tonnes of potential e-waste can be generated from installed PV cells. A suitable management system might be able to recover materials such as glass (24,468 tonnes), aluminium (2,656.43 tonnes), silicon (1404. 92 tonnes), and copper (49.89 tonnes) from the PV cells wastes. As there is an excellent opportunity to recover resources from the waste panels, there is also scope to grow enterprise for recycling of waste panels. Unfortunately, such policy or plan from the government is yet to be taken into account. However, a long-term national plan is required to manage this waste, maintaining the high standard based on in-depth research.