TWI886045B - A method for fixing a recycling and separation process of solar modules with flattening and energy saving - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for fixing a solar module recovery and separation process with flattening and energy saving, comprising: a setting step, setting a milling chamber, the bottom of which is provided with an opening; a placing step, placing a solar module above the opening; a water filling step, filling water into the milling chamber until the solar module is submerged, and making the solar module flatly adhere to the upper surface of the bottom of the milling chamber due to water pressure and sealing the opening; a milling step, using a milling machine to mill the component layer of the solar module below the water level to remove it; a drainage step, draining the water in the milling chamber; and a removal step, taking out the glass panel remaining after milling. By injecting water during the milling process, the characteristics of water pressure are used to fix the solar module and improve its flatness, thereby improving the uniformity of milling. Since the milling process is carried out in water, the splashing of dust or debris can be avoided and the noise generated by milling can be reduced. On the other hand, since the vacuum pump, exhaust pump and exhaust filter equipment are omitted, the operating cost and noise of these equipment are greatly reduced.

Description

A method for fixing a recycling and separation process of solar modules with flattening and energy saving

The present invention relates to a solar module recovery and separation process fixing method, in particular to a solar module recovery and separation process fixing method that uses water pressure to evenly fix the solar module and can omit the need for a vacuum pump, an air extraction pump and an exhaust filter device.

Due to climate change caused by greenhouse gases and to avoid the impact of traditional energy industries on the environment, the global demand for renewable energy is increasing. As a safe renewable energy source, solar energy is rapidly becoming one of the key technologies for energy transformation. Compared with burning fossil fuels, there is no emission of carbon dioxide or other harmful gases during the solar power generation process, which helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, which is of great significance for slowing global warming and improving air quality. However, with the increasing number of solar installations around the world, how to effectively recycle and dispose of waste solar modules has gradually become an environmental and economic issue.

One way to recycle solar modules is to use flat milling, in which the milling cutter cuts from the side of the backplane to mill away the soft backplane and battery layer to obtain the remaining intact glass panel. During the milling process, a vacuum suction cup is used to hold the glass panel of the solar module so that the solar module will not move during the milling process, thereby causing milling failure. However, since a vacuum pump is required to maintain the suction of the vacuum chuck during the milling process, if the vacuum chuck has uneven suction, the solar module will be warped and the milling will fail. On the other hand, since the outer frame of the solar module is removed before milling, the solar module is prone to warping when the outer frame support is lost. Therefore, it is difficult to maintain flatness during milling, which may result in excessive or insufficient milling.

In addition, a large amount of flying back plate and battery layer fragments will be generated during milling, and a large-flow vacuum pump and exhaust filter equipment are required to collect dust and fragments, which will greatly increase the equipment cost and energy consumption of the recycling process. The operation of the vacuum pump, vacuum pump and exhaust filter equipment will also generate a lot of noise.

Therefore, an improved solar module recycling and separation process fixing method is needed to solve the above problems.

In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a solar module recovery and separation process fixing method, in particular, a solar module recovery and separation process fixing method that uses water pressure to fix the solar module flatly during the milling process and can omit the need for a vacuum pump, an exhaust pump and an exhaust filter device.

The present invention provides a flat and energy-saving solar module recovery and separation process fixing method, comprising the following steps: Setting step, setting a milling chamber, the bottom of which is provided with an opening, the size of which is smaller than the size of the solar module to be milled; Placing step, placing the solar module above the opening in the milling chamber, wherein the glass panel of the solar module faces downward and the component layer of the solar module faces upward; Water filling step, filling water into the milling chamber until the solar module is submerged, and the solar module is flatly attached to the upper surface of the bottom of the milling chamber due to water pressure and the opening is sealed; A milling step, using a milling machine to mill the component layer of the solar module under the water level to remove it, while using water to prevent the splashing of debris or dust generated by milling and absorb the noise generated by milling; A drainage step, draining the water in the milling chamber; and A removal step, removing the milled solar module.

In one embodiment, a soft sealing material is provided on the upper surface of the bottom of the milling chamber near the edge of the opening, wherein in the placement step, the solar module is placed above the soft sealing material in the milling chamber, and in the water injection step, the solar module is flatly attached to the soft sealing material due to water pressure and the opening is sealed.

In one embodiment, the water level is controlled by injecting water in the water injection step and/or draining water in the draining step.

In one embodiment, a buoy is further provided inside the milling chamber to control the water level, wherein when the buoy is lowered to be immersed in the water, the buoy discharges the water originally occupied in the space immersed in the buoy to other spaces in the milling chamber, so that the water level rises; when the buoy is raised to be removed from the water, the water in other spaces in the milling chamber enters the space originally immersed in the buoy, so that the water level drops.

In one embodiment, in the water filling step, the water surface level is 15 to 25 centimeters higher than the upper surface of the solar module.

In one embodiment, a filtering step is further included, which is performed after the milling step or the draining step, or is performed simultaneously with the milling step or the draining step to filter the water in the milling chamber or the water discharged from the milling chamber, so as to remove the debris or dust generated by milling from the water.

In one embodiment, the filtering step is performed by a filter disposed inside the milling chamber, a filter disposed on a drainage line of the milling chamber, or a filter disposed outside the milling chamber and connected to the milling chamber.

In one embodiment, during the milling step, the water in the milling chamber continuously circulates between the milling chamber and the filter.

In one embodiment, the opening is rectangular in shape.

In one embodiment, a grid is disposed at the opening.

The solar module recovery and separation process fixing method of the present invention can fix the solar module and improve its flatness by using the characteristics of water pressure during the milling process, since water is injected to immerse the solar module, thereby improving the uniformity of milling. In addition, since the milling process is carried out in water, the splashing of dust or debris can be avoided and the noise generated by milling can be reduced. On the other hand, since the vacuum pump, the exhaust pump and the exhaust filter equipment are omitted, the operating cost and noise of these equipment are greatly reduced.

According to the embodiments described below with reference to the attached drawings, advantages and features of the present invention and methods of implementation thereof will be more clearly understood. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, but can be implemented in various different forms.

In the drawings for explaining exemplary embodiments of the present invention, for example, the shapes, sizes, ratios, angles, and numbers shown are given only by way of example, and thus are not limiting to the disclosure of the present invention.

In the absence of any contradiction, the technical features in any embodiment described in this specification can be applied to other embodiments of the present invention.

To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention provides a flat and energy-saving solar module recycling and separation process fixing method, which includes the following steps in sequence: a setting step, a placement step, a water injection step, a milling step, a drainage step and a removal step.

First, referring to FIG. 1 , in the setting step, a milling chamber 1 is set, and an opening 11 is set at the bottom of the milling chamber 1 .

If the opening 11 is not provided at the bottom of the milling chamber 1, after water is filled, the solar module 2 placed at the bottom of the milling chamber 1 will be subjected to the downward force of the atmospheric pressure and the water pressure, but will also be subjected to the upward reaction force of the bottom of the milling chamber 1, so that the action force and the reaction force are completely offset, and the solar module 2 cannot be made to fit smoothly on the bottom of the milling chamber 1 by the water pressure, that is, warping cannot be avoided, which will affect the subsequent milling.

Therefore, in the present invention, the reason for setting the opening 11 at the bottom of the milling chamber 1 is that after water is filled, the central part of the solar module 2 immersed in water and overlapping with the opening 11 will be subjected to downward atmospheric pressure and water pressure on the top side, and upward atmospheric pressure on the bottom side. After offsetting each other, there will be a remaining downward force of the water pressure, so that the edge part of the solar module 2 that does not overlap with the opening 11 is closely attached to the bottom of the milling chamber 1.

The shape of the opening 11 can be any shape such as rectangle, square, circle, ellipse, polygon, etc., as long as the size of the opening 11 is smaller than the size of the solar module 2 to be milled, and the solar module 2 to be milled can be placed thereon to completely cover the opening 11.

Generally, to match the shape of the solar module 2, the shape of the opening 11 is preferably rectangular.

In another preferred embodiment, a grid (not shown) may be provided at the opening 11 to more stably support the solar module 2.

In one embodiment, the number of the openings 11 of the present invention is not limited to one, and may be more than two.

Next, referring to FIG. 1 , in the placement step, the solar module 2 is placed above the opening 11 in the milling chamber 1 , wherein the glass panel 23 of the solar module 2 faces downward and the component layer (eg, including the back plate 21 or the battery layer 22 ) of the solar module 2 faces upward.

Alternatively, in another embodiment, the panel of the solar module may not be a glass panel 23, but a flexible transparent plastic panel.

The component layer may include at least one of the backplane 21 or the battery layer 22, but is not limited thereto and may also include any other semiconductor components.

Since the purpose of the present invention is to separate and recycle solar modules for reuse, in the placement step, the glass panel 23 of the solar module 2 is facing downward and the component layer is facing upward, and the milling machine is fed from the component side (such as the back panel side) to mill and peel off the soft component layer, such as the back panel 21 and the battery layer 22, thereby obtaining the remaining complete glass panel 23.

When the solar module 2 is placed in the milling chamber 1 without water injection, no additional pressure (except atmospheric pressure) is applied to the solar module 2. Therefore, as shown in FIG1 , there is a slight gap between the solar module 2 and the bottom of the milling chamber 1 and they are not completely attached. It should be noted that the gap shown in FIG1 is a relatively exaggerated representation and does not mean that there will be a gap visible to the naked eye during actual operation. In addition, in the subsequent water injection step, the amount of water leakage caused by this gap is small, and the water level a will still rise normally during water injection.

Subsequently, referring to FIG. 2 , in the water filling step, water is filled into the milling chamber 1 to immerse the solar module 2. When immersed to a certain depth (for example, when the water level a is higher than the solar module 2 by a suitable height), the solar module 2 will be flatly attached to the upper surface of the bottom of the milling chamber 1 due to the water pressure and the opening 11 will be sealed, thereby preventing the water in the milling chamber 1 from flowing out through the gap between the bottom of the milling chamber 1 and the bottom of the solar module 2.

In the present invention, the water level a in the milling chamber can be controlled by water injection in the water injection step and/or water drainage in the subsequent water drainage step, and the appropriate water level a can be adjusted according to the height of the solar module 2.

By adjusting the water level a, it is possible to avoid insufficient water pressure that causes the solar module 2 to be unable to fit flatly on the upper surface of the bottom of the milling chamber 1, or to prevent excessive water pressure from causing the central portion of the solar module 2 overlapping the opening 11 to bend downward, thereby causing undesirable curvature at the edge portion of the solar module 2 that does not overlap the opening 11.

Generally speaking, the water level a after the water filling step should be 15 to 25 cm higher than the upper surface of the solar module 2, preferably 17 to 23 cm, and more preferably 19 to 21 cm, to provide appropriate water pressure.

In another embodiment, a solar module 2 with a length of 1.4 meters and a width of 1 meter is placed in a milling chamber 1 and then filled with water. When the height of the water level a exceeds the upper surface of the solar module 2 by 20 centimeters, it is equivalent to applying a 280 kg and evenly distributed downward pressure on the solar module 2. In addition, since the pressure applied by the water on the solar module 2 is evenly distributed, it is not easy to cause warping such as that caused by excessive or uneven suction of a vacuum pump, thereby causing subsequent milling failure.

In another embodiment, a pressure gauge (not shown) may be additionally provided at the bottom of the milling chamber 1 to monitor the pressure exerted on the solar module 2 in the water.

In a preferred embodiment, a soft sealing material is further provided on the upper surface of the bottom of the milling chamber 1 near the edge of the opening 11. The soft sealing material can be rubber or silicone, but is not limited thereto.

In this embodiment, in the placing step, the solar module 2 is placed above the soft sealing material in the milling chamber 1; and, in the water filling step, the solar module 2 is flatly adhered to the soft sealing material and seals the opening 11 due to the water pressure.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, when water is injected into the milling chamber 1, the soft sealing material can further improve the sealing between the bottom of the milling chamber 1 and the solar module 2, thereby further preventing water from flowing out from the gap between the bottom of the solar module 2 and the bottom of the milling chamber 1, and can make the solar module 2 more conformable to the upper surface of the bottom of the milling chamber 1, especially when there are obvious warps or scratches on the outer side of the glass panel 23 of the solar module 2.

In addition, the advantage of providing a soft sealing material is that it can provide a buffer between the milling chamber 1 and the solar module 2, thereby preventing the solar module 2 (especially the glass panel 23) from being broken due to impact during the recycling process.

3 , in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a float 12 may be provided inside the milling chamber 1 to more precisely control the water level a. The float 12 has the function of saving water and quickly adjusting the water level a.

When the buoy 12 descends and is immersed in the water, the buoy 12 will discharge the water originally occupied in the space immersed in it to other spaces in the milling chamber 1, so that the water surface level a is raised, for example, raised to the raised water surface level a'; on the other hand, when the buoy 12 is raised to move out of the water, the water in other spaces in the milling chamber 1 will enter the space originally immersed in by the buoy 12, so that the raised water surface level a' is lowered.

In a preferred embodiment, the height of the water level a can be controlled and fine-tuned by controlling the position of the float 12 through a computer program or manually. The number of the float 12 of the present invention is not particularly limited to only one, and can also be more than two.

In the prior art, since water is not injected into the milling chamber during milling, a large amount of splashing dust and debris from the back plate and the component layer will be generated during milling. Therefore, a high-power vacuum pump is required to collect the dust and debris, and an exhaust filter device is required to filter the dust and debris. However, the installation of a high-power vacuum pump and exhaust filter device not only increases the equipment cost, but also generates a lot of noise during operation.

Therefore, referring to FIG. 4 , in the solar module recovery and separation process fixing method of the present invention, in the subsequent milling step, the element layer of the solar module 2 is milled by the milling machine 13 under the water level a to remove the element layer. At the same time, in addition to using water to prevent the debris or dust generated by the milling from splashing, the noise generated by the milling can also be further absorbed. In addition, since the milling step is carried out in water, it is not necessary to set up a high-horsepower vacuum pump and exhaust filter equipment to recover dust and debris, thereby reducing the operating cost and noise of these equipment.

When the milling step is completed, a drainage step may be performed to drain the water in the milling chamber 1.

Then, a removal step may be performed to remove the remaining glass panel 23 after milling, thereby obtaining the remaining complete glass panel 23 .

In a preferred embodiment, the solar module recycling and separation process fixing method of the present invention may further include a filtering step.

The filtering step may be performed after the milling step or simultaneously with the milling step. For example, a filter (not shown) may be provided inside the milling chamber 1 to filter the water in the milling chamber 1, thereby removing debris (e.g., back plate debris 21a and battery layer debris 22a) or dust (not shown) generated by the milling step from the water.

In this case, a circulation device, such as a stirrer, may be provided in the milling chamber 1 so that the water in the milling chamber 1 is filtered while continuously circulating between the milling chamber 1 and the internal filter, thereby improving the filtering effect.

Alternatively, the filtering step may be performed simultaneously with the draining step, for example, a filter (not shown) may be provided on a drain line (not shown) of the milling chamber 1 to filter water while draining it from the milling chamber 1 to remove debris or dust generated by milling.

Alternatively, the filtering step may be performed after the drainage step to filter the water discharged from the milling chamber. For example, a filter 3 may be provided outside the milling chamber 1, and the filter 3 may be connected to the milling chamber 1 via a filter water inlet pipeline 31 and a filter water discharge pipeline 32 to filter the water flowing from the milling chamber 1 into the filter 3 via the filter water inlet pipeline 31. Subsequently, at least a portion of the filtered water is discharged from the filter 3, and, optionally, another portion returns to the milling chamber 1 via the filter water discharge pipeline 32.

In this case, the water in the milling chamber 1 can continuously circulate between the milling chamber 1 and the external filter 3 via the filter water inlet pipeline 31 and the filter drain pipeline 32 to remove the debris or dust generated by milling.

Furthermore, since the component layers of the solar module 2 (such as the back plate 21, the battery layer 22 or other components) do not contain soluble substances (such as salts and/or other substances that require sewage treatment), the suspended particles in the water in the milling chamber 1 can be filtered and the water can be reused or directly discharged into a pipe.

The flattened and energy-saving solar module recycling and separation process fixing method of the present invention has the following advantages:

(1) Since water is injected to submerge the solar module during the milling process, the characteristics of water pressure can be used to fix the solar module and improve its flatness, thereby improving the uniformity of milling and thus increasing the milling success rate, and obtaining a complete glass panel;

(2) Since the milling process is carried out in water, dust and debris generated by the milling process can be captured and the noise generated by the milling process can be reduced; and

(3) Since the vacuum pump, exhaust pump and exhaust filter equipment are omitted, the operating cost and noise of these equipment are greatly reduced. In addition, since the vacuum pump, exhaust pump and exhaust filter equipment are reduced, the space occupied by the factory equipment can be reduced.

The present invention describes the technical spirit of the present invention through the above description and the attached drawings for illustrative purposes only, and a person having ordinary knowledge in the relevant technical field can make various combinations, decompositions, substitutions and modifications to the present invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

1: milling chamber 2: solar module 3: filter 11: opening 12: float 13: milling machine 21: back plate 21a: back plate fragments 22: battery layer 22a: battery layer fragments 23: glass panel 31: filter inlet pipeline 32: filter outlet pipeline a: water level a’: rising water level

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the setting and placement steps of the solar module recovery and separation process fixing method of the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the water injection step of the solar module recovery and separation process fixing method of the present invention; Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the use of a float to adjust the water level in the solar module recovery and separation process fixing method of the present invention; Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the milling step of the solar module recovery and separation process fixing method of the present invention.

1: Milling chamber

2: Solar module

3: Filter

11: Open mouth

12: Float

13: Milling machine

21: Back panel

21a: Back plate fragment

22: Battery layer

22a: Battery layer fragments

23: Glass panel

31: Filter water inlet pipeline

32: Filter drainage pipeline

a’: Rising water level

Claims (10)

A method for fixing a solar module recovery and separation process with flattening and energy saving, comprising the following steps: Setting step, setting a milling chamber, the bottom of which is provided with an opening, the size of which is smaller than the size of the solar module to be milled; Placing step, placing the solar module above the opening in the milling chamber, wherein the glass panel of the solar module faces downward and the component layer of the solar module faces upward; Water filling step, filling the milling chamber with water until the solar module is submerged, and the solar module is flatly attached to the upper surface of the bottom of the milling chamber due to water pressure and the opening is sealed; A milling step, using a milling machine to mill the component layer of the solar module under the water level to remove it, while using water to prevent the splashing of debris or dust generated by the milling and absorb the noise generated by the milling; A drainage step, draining the water in the milling chamber; and A removal step, removing the remaining glass panel after milling. The solar module recovery and separation process fixing method as described in claim 1, wherein a soft sealing material is provided on the upper surface of the bottom of the milling chamber near the edge of the opening, wherein in the placement step, the solar module is placed above the soft sealing material in the milling chamber, and in the water injection step, the solar module is flatly attached to the soft sealing material due to water pressure and the opening is sealed. A method for fixing the solar module recovery and separation process as described in claim 1, wherein the water surface level is controlled by injecting water in the water injection step and/or draining water in the drainage step. As described in claim 1, the solar module recovery and separation process fixing method further provides a float inside the milling chamber to control the water level, wherein When the float is lowered to immerse in the water, the float discharges the water originally occupied in the space immersed in it to other spaces in the milling chamber, so that the water level rises; When the float is raised to move out of the water, the water in other spaces in the milling chamber enters the space originally immersed in by the float, so that the water level drops. The method for fixing the solar module recovery and separation process as described in claim 1, wherein, in the water injection step, the water surface level is 15 to 25 centimeters higher than the upper surface of the solar module. The method for fixing the solar module recovery and separation process as described in claim 1 further includes a filtering step, which is performed after the milling step or the drainage step, or simultaneously with the milling step or the drainage step, to filter the water in the milling chamber or the water discharged from the milling chamber, thereby removing the debris or dust generated by milling from the water. A method for fixing a solar module recovery and separation process as described in claim 6, wherein the filtering step is performed through a filter disposed inside the milling chamber, a filter disposed on a drainage line of the milling chamber, or a filter disposed outside the milling chamber and connected to the milling chamber. A method for fixing the solar module recovery and separation process as described in claim 6, wherein, in the milling step, the water in the milling chamber continuously circulates between the milling chamber and the filter. A solar module recovery and separation process fixing method as described in claim 1, wherein the shape of the opening is a rectangle. A solar module recovery and separation process fixing method as described in claim 1, wherein a grid is provided at the opening.

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