Tuesday November 10th 2026
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
A new laser-based technique developed by University of Glasgow researchers could make recycling old solar panels significantly cleaner and more energy-efficient.
The process can recover almost all the valuable silver and silicon contained in end-of-life solar panels while using 84 per cent less energy than conventional recycling methods.
Researchers from the university’s James Watt School of Engineering are now working with Glasgow-based company Watt Laser Ltd to explore bringing the technology to market.
The development could help address a growing environmental challenge as the global use of solar power continues to expand.
Although falling costs have helped solar generation capacity reach three terawatts worldwide, growing numbers of panels are approaching the end of their working lives.
More than one million tonnes of solar panel waste are expected to be generated by 2030, rising to more than 200 million tonnes by 2050.
Recovering valuable materials from discarded panels is currently an energy-intensive process. Although metals account for just 0.05 per cent of a panel’s weight, they represent around two-thirds of its scrap value.
The materials are held together by a durable polymer called ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), which protects panels for decades but makes recycling difficult.
Conventional methods involve heating panels to temperatures of between 450C and 600C or using potentially harmful chemicals to break down the polymer and release the materials.
In research published in the journal *Communications Materials*, the Glasgow team describes how lasers can separate the materials without the need for such energy-intensive processes.
Using a fibre laser, researchers were able to pass light through the transparent EVA layer and heat the silicon beneath it.
This caused the polymer to detach from the solar cell as an intact film, allowing metallic components to be separated and leaving behind a powder containing mainly silicon, aluminium and silver.
The remaining material can then be treated with relatively simple chemicals to remove the aluminium and recover the silver.
In one type of solar panel, the process achieved more than 99 per cent selectivity in silver recovery.
The technique also avoids the use of hazardous nitric acid, commonly used in conventional silver extraction.
The research was led in part by Dr Joseph Cameron of the James Watt School of Engineering.
He said: “The plastic that seals solar cells is designed to survive decades outdoors. It is very good at this, but this is exactly why old panels are so hard to recycle.
“By using a laser, we can quickly release the encapsulant in one piece rather than burning or dissolving it. That gives us much cleaner material to work with at recycling centres.
“The silver can be pulled out selectively with mild, simple chemistry, and the silicon is left behind ready for recovery.”
The work was carried out as part of the EU APOLLO project, alongside researchers from the Responsible Electronics and Circular Technologies Centre (REACT), which is led by the University of Glasgow and supported by UK Research and Innovation.
REACT works with companies across Scotland to develop more sustainable ways of manufacturing and recycling electronics and help turn research into commercial products.
Declan Brannagan, of Watt Laser Ltd, said the technology had the potential to support a rapidly expanding solar recycling industry.
He said: “Solar recycling is about to become a very large market, and the industry needs processes that are clean, selective and economic.
“What stands out about this work is that it uses standard industrial fibre lasers, the same kind of systems already used on production lines for marking and cutting.
“Scaling up from a single laser head to multi-head systems that can handle full panels at commercial rates is an engineering challenge we understand well.
“We see real potential for this technology to form the basis of new laser processing equipment for the recycling sector, and we’re excited to be working with the University to explore how to bring it to market.”
He added that scaling up the technology could take less than a year, although an industrial partner would be needed to establish the required processing capacity.
Professor Jeff Kettle, of the James Watt School of Engineering and REACT’s principal investigator, was the paper’s corresponding author.
He said: “This project shows what REACT is for. We’ve taken a global problem and developed a process that a Glasgow laser company can help take towards commercial equipment.
“We’re pleased to be working with Watt Laser to help refine the technique and make it more suitable for use in industry.
“Our hope is that we will soon see this technology ready for commercial use, making it part of the low-emissions, circular economy that REACT is aiming to help build.”
Researchers from Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University in Saudi Arabia and the Fraunhofer Centre for Silicon Photovoltaics in Germany also contributed to the study.
The research paper, titled Laser-Induced Delamination of Aged Silicon Photovoltaic Modules to Achieve >95% Selective Silver Recovery, was published in Communications Materials.
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