Environmental Impact

Green and sustainable solar products— taking you one step closer to a zero-carbon future.

Green Energy Generation
Sustainable Manufacturing
96% Recyclable Materials
Net-Zero Future

The Impact of Mitrex Products
on the Environment

Solar Facades Solar Glass

Low Embodied Carbon

Energy Payback Through Integration

Net-Zero Integrated Solar Products— generating enough green energy to offset the carbon needed to produce them.

Mitrex integrated solar panels generate enough green energy to offset production-related carbon emissions, unlike traditional materials. The total amount of CO2 released in the production of a Mitrex Solar Panel is 75.94 kg of CO2. This includes all the solar panel components, such as the glass, aluminum, EVA, back sheet, cells, interconnections, and junction box.

Mitrex integrates solar technology into every available surface that has access to sunlight, including integrating PV into typical construction materials. By doing this, we transform building materials into carbon-zero products that limit our contribution to climate change.

On average, Mitrex Solar Facades can offset the carbon needed to make them in 4.5 years and remove 557.75 kg of CO2 in 30 years. However, a south-facing Solar Facade panel can offset the carbon used in its manufacturing process in three years and remove 744 kg of CO2 from the atmosphere in 30 years.

Embodied Carbon Manufacturing

Recyclable Materials

A Net-Zero Future

Typically, solar panels have a lifecycle of 30 years, wherein they minimize carbon emissions. But what happens to solar panels and their components at the end of their lifecycle?

Up to 96% of the material used to make Mitrex solar modules can be reused to make new solar panels.

The three primary materials used in photovoltaics are glass, plastic, and aluminum, which are widely recycled. At Mitrex, we are committed to seeing a genuinely sustainable future with photovoltaics integrated into any surface touched by the sun. Mitrex Solar Products are genuinely innovative as they reduce emissions and pave the way to a net-zero future.

Recycling Process

Recycling Solar Panels

Mitrex uses two types of solar technology: monocrystalline silicon and thin-film photovoltaics. These types of solar technology can be recycled using several different industrial techniques.

Silicon Recycling
Process

Through the recycling process for silicon solar panels, 85% of the silicon is recycled and can be reused.

The first step in the recycling process of silicon solar panels is to disassemble the module and separate the aluminum and glass. All the external metal elements are recycled, and 95% of the glass can be reused.

Next, all the remaining materials are treated with a thermal processing unit to separate the binding of the cell components. The high heat vaporizes the enclosing plastic, and the silicon cells are further processed. Repurposing plastic as a heat source for extra thermal processing is another way to recycle it.

Lastly, the solar module hardware is then physically separated, with 80% of it being able to be reused immediately and the remainder being improved for reuse. The silicon wafers are then etched using acid. The reduced wafers are then melted and reused to make new silicon modules.

Thin-Film Recycling Process

90% of the glass elements in thin-film solar panels are saved during the recycling process, allowing for easy remanufacturing.

Thin-film solar panels have a significantly more severe recycling process than silicon solar panels. The first step in the process is to remove the lamination that holds the materials together, which is done by shredding the panels into little bits. The leftover materials are both solids and liquids that are separated with a rotating screw once the materials are no longer held together by lamination.

To assure purity, the leftover liquids go through a precipitation and dewatering process, followed by metal processing to separate the semiconductor components. 95% of the semiconductor material is typically reused after these procedures.

The solid materials go through a rinse procedure, after which the interlayer materials are removed. The remaining material is pure glass, which allows for easy remanufacturing by preserving 90% of the glass parts.

Environmental Impact

The Impact of Mitrex Products on the Environment

Low Embodied Carbon

Energy Payback Through Integration

Recyclable Materials

A Net-Zero Future

Recycling Process

Recycling Solar Panels

Silicon Recycling Process

Thin-Film Recycling Process

Recycling Process

Solar Panel Recycling Process

The Impact of Mitrex Products
on the Environment

Silicon Recycling
Process