Environmental Benefits of Solar Integrated's Products
Solar Integrated's products offer an environmental competitive edge:
Thin film technology:
- Amorphous silicon is mainly based on sand and not toxic
- Only 1 µm silicon material input is required compared to up to 300 µm for crystalline silicon cells
- Process temperatures range around 300 °C , while up to 1500 °C are required for processing crystalline silicon cells
Membranes used for our PowerMembrane:
- No harmful emission during production
- No halogens used for fire protection (cause corrosive flue gases and extremely toxic combustion products when burning), while still meeting all requirements
- Long product lifetime of 40 to more than 60 years reduces number of required replacements over a building's lifetime
Source: Basler & Hofmann evaluation 1997, Institut für Bautenschutz evaluation 2004
Environmentally friendly packaging:
- Recycable packaging of our PowerMembrane with light weight cardboard and wooden structures
- Packaging of our PowerPlate on wooden pallets with Styrodur ® from BASF as separation, an isolation material that is free of CFC, HCFC, and HFC. Styrodur® C is environmentally friendly, because its cells are filled with air.
- Packaging of our PowerTilt and its substructure in reusable crates
Recycling:
- PV thin film: While the laminate is fully landfill disposable the individual materials can be separated and the steel including the solar cell, copper bus bars, cover, dielectric encapsulate and adhesive are all recyclable. The module manufactuer - our sister company UNI-SOLAR is a member of the PV Cycle Association
- Base-membrane of the PowerMembrane products: Can be reworked into Polymer granulate for production of new membranes or used for protection membranes or thermally recycled into heat and electric energy
- The metal parts and substrates of the PowerPlate and PowerTilt modules are fully recycable
