Photovoltaic Panel Glass Removal Machine

The photovoltaic (PV) panel glass removal machine is a key piece of pre-treatment equipment in the physical recycling line for end-of-life PV modules.

In the structure of a used PV panel, highly transparent tempered glass, EVA film, solar cells (containing silver, copper, and silicon), and the backsheet are tightly laminated together. If the module is crushed whole—glass included—glass fragments become heavily mixed with solar cell powder; this not only causes severe wear on the crusher blades but also significantly reduces the recovery rates of high-purity silicon powder and precious metals (silver and copper) during subsequent processing.

Removing the tempered glass—which accounts for approximately 70%–80% of the panel’s total weight—prior to fine crushing and electrostatic separation drastically reduces the volume of material entering the next stages. It also prevents glass dust from contaminating the silver, copper, and silicon powders, thereby increasing the purity of the recovered precious metals and silicon powder by more than 15%.

The tempered glass granules recovered by the machine achieve a purity of 98%; they do not require landfill disposal and can be sold directly to construction material manufacturers or glass remanufacturing plants, generating additional revenue.