JP2018140353A - Glass member separation method and glass member separation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide means which relatively easily separates a glass member from a solar cell module at a low cost and more reliably.SOLUTION: A glass member separation system for separating a glass member from a solar cell module B in which a glass plate B2 is adhered and formed on a light-receiving surface side including a glass crushing part 1 which crushes the glass plate B2, and a remaining member peeling part 2 which peels the remaining glass member by causing glass G'' to collide with the light-receiving surface side of the solar cell module B; and a separation method. A method for recycling the solar cell module B by which after crush processing, the glass particles are used as an abrasive material, and the remaining glass member can be substantially perfectly peeled by polishing the light-receiving surface side of the solar cell module, whereby the glass member and useful metals can be effectively recycled.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a glass member separation method and a glass member separation system for separating a glass member from a solar cell module in which a glass plate is bonded and formed on the light receiving surface side. More specifically, a glass member separation method and glass comprising a step / configuration for crushing a glass plate and a step / configuration for peeling off the remaining glass member by colliding glass particles with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module. The present invention relates to a member separation system.

  Solar power generation is a power generation system that converts sunlight into electric power using a solar cell. For example, in a photovoltaic power generation system for residential use, public use, industrial use, etc., a plurality of solar cell modules, which are constituent units, are usually connected side by side to ensure the amount of power generation.

  The solar cell module is a package in which a plurality of solar cell elements are arranged and connected so as to obtain necessary current and voltage. Here, for example, in the case of a solar cell element that is widely used at present, the solar cell element has a thin plate shape of about 10 cm × 10 cm and is formed of a pn-junction silicon crystal. Electrodes are attached to the front side and back side of the solar cell element (n-side electrode and p-side electrode), respectively, and the n-side electrode and the p-side electrode of the next solar cell element are connected in order, Are connected in series. In the solar cell module, as a structure for strengthening and protecting the solar cell element and its peripheral configuration, a plate-like tempered glass is stretched on the light receiving surface side, and a frame body such as aluminum is attached to the periphery. It has been. The solar cell element and its peripheral configuration and the tempered glass are bonded together by a sealing material such as a thermoplastic resin.

  That is, the solar cell module mainly has a structure in which a solar cell element and its peripheral configuration, a sealing material, and tempered glass are laminated in this order except for the frame. And aluminum etc. are used for a frame, and useful metals, such as copper, silver, and aluminum, are contained in the periphery structure of a solar cell element as an electrode.

  In recent years, social demand for photovoltaic power generation has increased as a safe energy supply source, and its spread has been rapidly progressing. Along with this, there is a strong concern about the rapid increase in the near future of discarded solar cell modules, and countermeasures are required.

  At present, many of the discarded solar cell modules are physically crushed and then sent to a final disposal site. On the other hand, since solar cell modules contain reusable materials such as glass members and useful metals, the construction of a mechanism for recycling them has been studied.

  As described above, in the solar cell module, the solar cell element, its peripheral configuration, and the tempered glass are bonded with the sealing material. Therefore, when trying to reuse the glass member in the solar cell module, it is difficult to efficiently recover only the glass member by peeling the glass member from the sealing material, and the glass member is peeled from the sealing material. Therefore, there is a problem that other member pieces existing in the module and substances used or generated during the peeling process are likely to be mixed. On the other hand, when the useful metal in the solar cell module is reused, if the glass member is removed, it can be reused relatively easily, but there is a problem that it is difficult to sufficiently remove the glass member.

As a measure for solving these problems, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for recovering a solar cell element constituent material that releases EVA decomposition gas at 300 to 400 ° C. and removes the EVA sealing material. 2, a solar cell module recycling method using a release agent has been proposed, respectively, by measuring the thickness of the glass plate and adjusting the movable range of the crushing means based on the information. .
JP 2014-108375 A JP 2014-104406 A Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-192942

  In order to construct a solar cell module recycling mechanism, it is necessary to recycle glass members, useful metals, and the like in the solar cell module. For that purpose, it is necessary to reliably separate the glass member from the solar cell module to be discarded and to eliminate the remaining glass member as much as possible. However, it is difficult to sufficiently separate the glass member from the solar cell module, or there is a problem that processing equipment or processing cost becomes excessive when the glass member is sufficiently separated.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a means for separating a glass member from a solar cell module more reliably and relatively easily at a low cost.

  In this invention, it is a method of isolate | separating this glass member from the solar cell module by which the glass plate was adhere | attached and formed on the light-receiving surface side, Comprising: The glass crushing process of crushing the said glass plate, The light-receiving surface side of the said solar cell module A glass member separation method including a remaining glass member peeling step of peeling a remaining glass member by causing glass particles to collide with each other.

  After removing the frame from the solar cell module to be discarded, first, the glass plate bonded and formed on the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module is split and crushed. Thereby, although a glass plate is cracked and many glass members detach | leave from a solar cell module, many glass members remain | survive in the solar cell module after a glass crushing process simultaneously.

  Next, a glass particle is made to collide with the light-receiving surface side of the solar cell module after a glass crushing process. The remaining glass member can be peeled almost completely by polishing the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module by using the glass particles as an abrasive and projecting the glass particles with compressed air, for example. That is, by continuously performing the glass crushing process that is the first process and the remaining glass member peeling process (polishing process) that is the second process, the glass member is removed from the solar cell module with almost no glass member remaining. Can be reliably separated.

  In addition, in the present invention, no equipment such as a heat source for heat treatment or drying, waste water treatment equipment or the like is required, and chemical treatment chemicals are not used. The glass member can be reliably separated from the solar cell module easily and at low cost.

  And since it is possible to efficiently separate the glass member and other parts from the solar cell module at low cost, it becomes possible to effectively recycle the glass member, useful metal, etc., which is also effective in terms of cost. It becomes possible to construct a recycling system for a simple solar cell module.

  In the present invention, the glass member collided with the light-receiving surface side of the solar cell module in the glass member detached from the solar cell module and / or the remaining glass member peeling step when the glass cell was crushed in the glass crushing step. You may make it the structure which reuses the glass member peeled in that case as the glass particle made to collide with the light-receiving surface side of the said solar cell module in the said remaining glass member peeling process.

  This eliminates the need to separate the glass member detached from the solar cell module and the abrasive after the remaining glass member peeling treatment, so that the glass member can be recovered more efficiently and the recycling of the glass member can be simplified. . In addition, it is possible to suppress the mixing of substances used or generated during the peeling process and the recovery loss of the glass member.

  According to the present invention, the glass member can be separated from the solar cell module more reliably and relatively easily at low cost. Thereby, effective recycling of the glass member, useful metal, etc. in a solar cell module is attained.

<About the glass member separation system according to the present invention>
The present invention is a glass member separation system for separating a glass member from a solar cell module having a glass plate bonded and formed on a light receiving surface side, the glass crushing portion for splitting the glass plate, and the solar cell module. All the glass member separation systems provided with the remaining glass member peeling part which peels the remaining glass member by making a glass particle collide with the light-receiving surface side are included.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, this invention is not limited narrowly only to embodiment illustrated below.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a glass member separation system according to the present invention.

  A glass member separation system A illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a main body B1 including solar cell elements and the like, and a solar cell including a glass plate B2 made of a glass member G formed on the light receiving surface side of the main body B1. It is constructed as a system for processing the module B, and the glass crushing part 1 for crushing the glass plate B2 in the solar cell module B, and the glass member G detached from the solar cell module B ′ during the glass crushing treatment Glass member G "" collides with glass member collecting unit 11 for collecting ', finer unit 12 for refining the collected glass member G', and solar cell module B '' after glass crushing treatment A remaining glass member peeling portion 2 for peeling the remaining glass member G, a glass member collecting portion 21 for collecting the glass member G ′ ″ detached from the solar cell module B ′ during the remaining glass member peeling treatment, Finely collected glass member G '' ' And a granulating unit 22 to be changed.

  In this system A, the solar cell module B is put into the glass crushing part 1 (see symbol I), the glass crushing part 1 performs the glass crushing process of the solar cell module B ′, and the solar cell module after the glass crushing process By processing B ″ at the remaining glass member peeling portion 2 (see symbol II), a solar cell module B ″ ″ ”in which the glass member G does not remain is obtained in principle (see symbol III).

  The solar cell module B processed according to the present invention includes a main body B1 and a glass plate B2. The main body B1 is a part other than the glass plate B2, and includes a solar cell element, an electrode, and a sealing material. In general, the solar cell element is a pn-junction silicon crystal, the electrode is a useful metal such as copper, silver, or aluminum, and the sealing material is a thermal material such as EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer). Each is formed of a plastic resin. In principle, the solar cell module B can be widely applied to the present invention as long as it has a panel shape after removing a frame, a terminal box, and the like.

  The glass crushing part 1 is a part that crushes and crushes the glass plate B2 bonded and formed on the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module B. As a means for splitting and crushing the glass plate B2, a known method can be widely adopted and is not limited narrowly. For example, using a known biaxial roller, the glass plate B2 may be crushed by sandwiching the solar cell module B between both rollers while rotating both rollers.

  The remaining glass member peeling part 2 makes the glass member G "" collide with the light-receiving surface side of the solar cell module B (see reference numeral X1), thereby remaining the glass member G remaining in the solar cell module B even after the glass crushing treatment. It is a part which peels. By using the glass particles G "" as an abrasive and polishing the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module B, the glass member G is almost completely separated from the solar cell module B. Try to remain.

  As means for causing the glass particles G ″ ″ to collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module B ″, a well-known method can be widely adopted, and the means is not limited narrowly. For example, as in a known air blasting apparatus, the glass particles G ″ are projected using compressed air so that the glass particles G ″ ”collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module B ″”. May be.

  The particle shape and particle size of the glass particles G ″ used as the abrasive are not particularly limited as long as they can be loaded into the air blasting apparatus employed. For example, the solar cell module B '' is configured by causing glass particles G '' adjusted to a particle size of 7.5 mm or less (for example, 0.1 to 7.5 mm) to collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module B ''. The glass member G remaining on the substrate can be effectively and reliably peeled off. For the adjustment of the particle size, for example, a well-known finer means described later may be used.

  The angle at which the glass particle G "" collides with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module B "is not particularly limited, but is oblique with respect to the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module B", for example, 15 to 75 degrees. When the glass particles G "" collide with the glass member G, the glass member G remaining in the solar cell module B "can be effectively peeled off.

  The strength with which the glass particles G ″ ″ collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module B ″ may be appropriately adjusted to the strength at which the glass member G effectively peels, and is not particularly limited. For example, by adjusting the hole diameter of the injection hole of the air blast device and the degree of air compression, the strength with which the glass particles G "" collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module B "can be adjusted. For example, while considering the hole diameter of the injection hole of the air blast device, adjust the air pressure so that the internal pressure of the air blast device is 0.1 to 20 MPa and project glass particles at 1 to 100 kg / min. Also good. First, glass particles G '' are intensively projected onto a limited part of the light receiving surface of the solar cell module B '', and the projection part is moved in order, thereby remaining in the solar cell module B ''. The glass member G thus made can be peeled off reliably.

  The glass member recovery units 11 and 21 are each a glass member G ′ detached from the solar cell module B ′ during the glass crushing process, or a glass member detached from the solar cell module B ′ during the residual glass member peeling process. This is a site for collecting G ″ ′ (see symbols X2 and X4).

  For example, the glass member G ′ detached from the solar cell module B ′ during the glass crushing treatment and / or the glass member G ′ ″ detached from the solar cell module B ′ during the residual glass member peeling treatment is recovered. Then, it may be loaded into an air blast device and reused as glass particles G ″ that collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module B ″ during the remaining glass member peeling process. This eliminates the need to separate the glass member G ′ ″ detached from the solar cell module B ″ and the abrasive (reference numeral G ″) after the remaining glass member peeling treatment, and thus the glass member G more efficiently. Can be collected and the recycling of the glass member G can be simplified. In addition, it is possible to suppress the mixing of substances used or generated during the peeling process and the recovery loss of the glass member.

  When the glass members G ′ and / or G ′ ″ are collected, they are put into the fine granulation units 12 and 22 (see reference numerals X3 and X5), and the collected glass members G ′ and / or G ′ ″ are collected. May be finely divided as appropriate. This makes it possible to adjust the particle shape and particle size of the glass particles G '' used as an abrasive, so that, for example, the prepared glass particles G '' can be loaded into an air blasting apparatus during the residual glass member peeling treatment. (See symbol X6), the glass member G remaining in the solar cell module B ″ can be more effectively and reliably peeled off. In addition, this invention is not limited narrowly only when each glass member G ', G' '' is refined separately, The case where both are refined simultaneously is also widely included by this invention. For the granulating units 12 and 22, a known granulating means, for example, a known crusher that can be adjusted to a target particle shape and particle diameter can be appropriately employed.

<About the glass member separation method according to the present invention>
The present invention is a method of separating the glass member from a solar cell module having a glass plate bonded and formed on the light receiving surface side, the glass crushing step of crushing the glass plate, and the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module All the glass member separation methods including the remaining glass member peeling step of peeling the remaining glass member by causing the glass particles to collide with each other.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, this invention is not limited narrowly only to embodiment illustrated below.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the steps of the glass member separation method according to the present invention.

  The removal step S0 is a step of removing the frame, the terminal box, and the like from the solar cell module as a pretreatment of the present invention. In the present invention, in principle, the panel-shaped object after removing the frame, the terminal box and the like is processed in the following steps. For example, when the frame is made of a useful metal such as aluminum, these can be reused as resources.

  Next, the glass crushing step S1 is a step of crushing the glass plate bonded to the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module. The means for splitting the glass plate is the same as described above. In this step S1, the glass plate is broken and many glass members are detached from the solar cell module, but at the same time, many glass members remain in the solar cell module after the glass crushing treatment.

  Next, the remaining glass member peeling step S2 is a step of peeling the glass member remaining on the solar cell module even after the glass crushing treatment by colliding glass particles with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module. By using glass particles as an abrasive and polishing the light receiving surface of the solar cell module, the glass member is almost completely separated from the solar cell module. The means for causing the glass particles to collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module is the same as described above.

  In the residual glass member peeling step S2, for example, the glass particles are collided with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module by projecting the glass particles with compressed air, such as a known air blast device. May be.

  In the remaining glass member peeling step S2, glass particles adjusted to a particle size of 7.5 mm or less (for example, 0.1 to 7.5 mm) may collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module.

  In addition, for example, the glass member that has been detached from the solar cell module at the time of crushing in the glass crushing step S1, and / or the glass particles collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module in the residual glass member peeling step S2. You may make it the structure which reuses the glass member peeled when it was made as a glass particle made to collide with the light-receiving surface side of the said solar cell module in the said residual glass member peeling process.

  In that case, for example, after recovering the glass member detached from the solar cell module at the time of crushing in the glass crushing step S1 (see reference S11), and if necessary, finely divided (see reference S12), The glass particles are used as an abrasive in the remaining glass member peeling step S2. Or, for example, the glass member peeled off when the glass particles collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module in the remaining glass member peeling step S2 is collected (see S21), and is finely divided as necessary. Later (see S22), the glass particles are used as an abrasive in the remaining glass member peeling step S2. In addition, collection | recovery (code | symbol S11, S21) and refinement | miniaturization (code | symbol S12, S22) of a glass member may be performed separately, and you may perform both together.

  Through the above steps, the glass member can be separated from the solar cell module. The separated glass member is recovered by the glass recovery steps S11 and S21, and reused as glass particles that collide with the light-receiving surface side of the previous solar cell module in the remaining glass member peeling step S2, as well as other existing in the module. Since there is no mixing of a member piece or a substance used or generated at the time of peeling treatment, it can be reused as a glass material with high purity.

  Moreover, although the remaining part which isolate | separated the glass member from the solar cell module remains as a sheet-like structure, useful metals, such as copper, silver, and aluminum used as an electrode, are contained in it. And since the glass member is fully removed from this structure, these useful metals can also be reused as resources.

  In Example 1, an attempt was made to separate the glass member from the solar cell module.

  First, the solar cell module (1600mm x 800mm) with the frame and terminal box removed is put into a biaxial roller and sandwiched between the rollers, and the glass plate bonded and formed on the light-receiving surface side of the solar cell module is crushed did. As a result, about half of the glass member by weight was detached from the solar cell module.

  The glass pieces detached from the solar cell module by the split crushing process are collected, adjusted to a particle size of 4.0 mm or less with a crusher, and the glass particles are loaded into an air blast device (a hole diameter of the injection hole 7 mm) as an abrasive. Air was compressed so that the internal pressure was about 0.5 MPa.

  Then, use an air blast device to remove the abrasive at a specific rate of about 10 kg / min on a specific part of the solar cell module where the glass member remains on the light-receiving surface side even after the crushing treatment (range of about 10 cm × 10 cm). When intensively projecting from an angle of 45 degrees and the glass member is almost completely detached from the projected part, the projected part is moved to the part immediately next to the part, and the abrasive is projected intensively in the same manner, and this is repeated. Then, the entire light-receiving surface side of the solar cell module was air blasted. As a result, in about 4 minutes, the glass member on the light receiving surface side of one solar cell module was almost completely detached, and the glass member was successfully separated from the solar cell module. In addition, as a control, when the same air blasting process was performed directly without performing the split crushing process in the first step, the glass member on the light receiving surface side of one solar cell module of the same size was almost completely detached. It took about 8 minutes to do it.

  Subsequently, the glass pieces detached from the solar cell module by the air blasting process are collected in a state of being mixed with the projected abrasive material, adjusted to a particle size of 4.0 mm or less with a crusher, and the glass particles as the abrasive material The air blasting apparatus was loaded again.

  And the same air blast process was performed to the light-receiving surface side of another solar cell module which performed the split crushing process. As a result, the glass member on the light-receiving surface side of the solar cell module could be almost completely detached as in the case where the glass particles obtained by the split crushing treatment were used as the abrasive.

The schematic diagram which shows the structural example of the glass member separation system which concerns on this invention. The flowchart which shows the example of the process of the glass member separation method which concerns on this invention.

1 Glass crushing section
11, 21 Glass recovery section
12, 22 Refinement part
2 Residual glass member peeling part
A Glass member separation system
B Solar cell module
B1 Main unit
B2 glass plate
G Glass material

Claims (5)

A method of separating the glass member from a solar cell module in which a glass plate is bonded to the light receiving surface side,
A glass crushing step for crushing the glass plate;
A remaining glass member peeling step for peeling the remaining glass member by colliding glass particles with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module;
A glass member separation method comprising: The glass member detached from the solar cell module when crushing in the glass crushing step and / or the glass member peeled off when the glass particles collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module in the residual glass member peeling step. Glass member
2. The glass member separation method according to claim 1, wherein the glass member separation method is reused as glass particles that collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module in the remaining glass member peeling step. In the residual glass member peeling step,
3. The glass member separating method according to claim 1, wherein the glass particles are caused to collide with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module by projecting the glass particles with compressed air.   4. The glass member separation method according to claim 1, wherein in the remaining glass member peeling step, glass particles adjusted to a particle size of 7.5 mm or less collide with a light receiving surface side of the solar cell module. A glass member separation system for separating the glass member from a solar cell module having a glass plate bonded and formed on the light receiving surface side,
A glass crushing section for crushing and crushing the glass plate;
A remaining glass member peeling portion for peeling the remaining glass member by colliding glass particles with the light receiving surface side of the solar cell module;
A glass member separation system comprising:

Images