ISO/PRF TS 21480

TECHNICAL ISO/TS
SPECIFICATION 21480
First edition
Glass in building — General technical
requirements of building integrated
photovoltaic modules recycling
PROOF/ÉPREUVE
Reference number
ISO/TS 21480:2021(E)
ISO 2021
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ISO/TS 21480:2021(E)
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO 2021

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Foreword ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................iv

1 Scope ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

2 Normative references ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

3 Terms and definitions ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

4 Fundamental principles ................................................................................................................................................................................ 3

5 Classification ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 3

5.1 It can be classified according to the type of cell: ....................................................................................................... 3

5.2 It can be classified according to the structure of encapsulation: ................................................................ 3

5.3 It can be classified according to abandoned condition: ....................................................................................... 4

6 Dismantlement ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

7 Collection, transportation and storage ......................................................................................................................................... 6

7.1 General provisions ............................................................................................................................................................................... 6

7.2 Collection ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

7.3 Transportation ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 6

7.4 Storage ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

8 Disassembly ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

8.1 General provisions ............................................................................................................................................................................... 7

8.2 Termination ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

8.3 Frame .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7

8.4 PV laminate ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8

9 Treatment .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

9.1 General provisions ............................................................................................................................................................................... 8

9.2 Glass ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8

9.3 Interlayer ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

9.4 Solar cell ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

9.5 Welding strip ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 9

9.6 Plastic back sheet ...............................................................................................................................................................................10

10 Recovery .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................10

10.1 Semiconductor materials recovery ....................................................................................................................................10

10.2 Metal materials recovery ......... ....................................................................................................................................................11

10.3 Glass recovery .......................................................................................................................................................................................11

10.4 Polymer materials recovery ......................................................................................................................................................11

11 Management ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................12

Annex A (informative) Data collected for the information statistic system .............................................................13

Annex B (informative) Matters needing attention for recycling ...........................................................................................14

Annex C (informative) Common requirements for work at height ....................................................................................15

Annex D (informative) Examples of requirements applicable to pollutants' emissions .............................16

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................17

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This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 160, Glass in building, Subcommittee SC 1,

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A

This document specifies requirements for the recycling of building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV)

modules. It is suitable for crystalline silicon PV modules and thin film modules.

The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content

constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For

undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:

photovoltaic module that the holder discards, or intends to discard, or is required to be discarded

Note 1 to entry: This term covers both laminated glass (see ISO 12543-3) and laminated safety glass (see

[SOURCE: ISO/TS 18178:2018, 3.1, modified - Photovoltaic has been changed to PV.]

item, element or substance with a potential for harm in terms of human injury or ill health (both short

and long term), damage to property, damage to the environment, or a combination of these

logistical process of moving waste photovoltaic module from its source to a place where it can be

[SOURCE: ISO 472:2013, 2.1682, modified — Domain of application has been deleted, and "plastics

temporary storing activity of waste photovoltaic modules at a special place which meets the

requirements for the purpose of collection (3.4), transportation, treatment (3.10) and disposal (3.11)

set of activities of demounting and disintegrating waste photovoltaic modules by a manual or

processing of waste materials for the original purpose or for other purposes, excluding energy recovery

processing waste material for the original purpose or for other purposes, including energy recovery

set of activities of decontamination, disassembly (3.6), comminution and recycling (3.8) of waste

set of activities for diminishment or elimination of the danger of waste photovoltaic modules

Note 1 to entry: This can be by means of changing physical, chemical and biological characteristics.

Note 2 to entry: The activities of final placement for waste photovoltaic modules in a place or facility that meets

portion of a photovoltaic module consisting of substrate, encapsulant, complete photovoltaic cell circuit,

Note 1 to entry: A photovoltaic module includes a laminate and a junction box. A frame and other accessories can

[SOURCE: IEC/TS 61836:2016, 3.1.50, modified — The preferred term has been changed to photovoltaic

photovoltaic modules that have structural, electrical and other types of the safety risk

ratio of the weight of the recovery materials or components to the whole weight of the waste

4.1 The fundamental principles are the maximizing of resource utilization and the minimizing of

4.2 The treatment shall be conducted according to the following order: re-use, recycling and energy

recovery. The re-use and energy recovery should meet the requirements of related standards or

4.3 Treatment and disposal shall adopt the current optimal feasible technology. All necessary

measures shall be employed in order to ensure that the effect of recycling process on personnel and the

environment are in accordance with relevant standards during treatment and disposal.

4.4 The participants, including dismantlement, transportation and recycling organizations, shall

establish appropriate information statistic systems for the collection, treatment and disposal of waste

PV modules. The relevant data/information (see Table A.1) shall be saved and be available to competent

4.7 Matters needing attention for recycling should be given (see Annex B) in the documentation of PV

b) PV module with damaged appearances, but the power generation performance works properly;

c) PV module where the power generation performance shows obvious attenuation, but the

d) PV module with undamaged appearances and proper power generation performance, which the

6.1 Dismantlement of waste PV modules shall avoid excessive emissions of pollutants, such as screw,

6.2 According to the methods of ISO 15928, the safety level of building after dismantlement of waste

6.3 The electrical safety of the whole dismantlement should conform with the requirements of

6.4 The requirements related to the dismantlement of waste PV module can be found in national or

6.5 Structure safety of buildings and safety of users shall be ensured during dismantlement process.

6.6 The system shall be electrically isolated before dismantlement, and it shall not be powered on until

6.7 Safety nets should be installed in the working area to avoid tools and materials falling. Workers

should be equipped with the safety devices such as safety helmets, safety ropes, safety shoes and safety

6.8 The integrity of PV modules should be ensured during the dismantlement process.

6.9 In order to avoid electric shock accidents, after the waste PV module is separated from the inverter,

the cables of the module and inverter shall be insulated with insulating materials.

6.10 For cracked module, in order to prevent electric shock, the surface of the cracked waste PV module

should be insulated in advance, if it is necessary to dismantle in rain and snow weather. Condition a) and

b) human gets in contacts with the internal electrode of module directly or through conductive fluid.

6.11 For cracked module, before dismantlement, safety measures should be set to prevent the broken

6.12 The inner side of the building where waste PV module is disassembled shall be properly secured.

6.13 According to the disassembly height of the waste PV module, the appropriate size of the no walking

6.14 During the entire dismantlement process, safety measures for waste PV module should be taken to

avoid accidents such as module falling, severely swinging, and bursting, caused by operation, wind and

6.15 For waste PV module on the side of the building, if conditions permit, dismantlement work should

be operated from the interior of the building rather than from outside the building.

6.16 If traffic is too heavy, the operation time should select the daytime period when traffic is not heavy.

If the above condition cannot be met, the road can be temporarily closed, or the radius of the no walking

6.17 In the case of wind speed greater than 10 m/s or other bad weather such as rain, thunder, snow

and fog, the waste PV module dismantlement work should not be operated, unless authorized by national

6.18 Before dismantlement, workers shall clean the work area, and remove water, snow, oil, dust and

6.19 Before dismantlement, a safety plan shall be set according to building conditions. The workers

shall track the safety of both the tool and the dismantling worker in real time during dismantlement

process, avoiding accidents such as tool falling, rope breaking, unstable fixed point. The communication

6.20 Safety and construction equipment shall be fully prepared before waste PV module dismantlement

6.21 If the building of disassembled waste PV modules is in use, it should install new BIPV modules or

6.22 The dismantled modules should be recorded into the information statistics system to form a

6.23 The dismantlement of photovoltaic insulating glass units with PV power generation should avoid

6.24 The accessories of BIPV modules should be removed during the dismantlement processing. If

the accessories cannot be removed on the spot, these modules should be collected separately, and the

6.25 The requirements related to dismantlement work can be found in national or local regulations for

7.1.1 In the process of collection, transportation and storage, the harm caused by electric leakage of

7.1.2 For PV modules that lose safety performance, these shall be classified prior to collection,

transportation and storage. This shall be conducted in a manner that ensures personal injury is avoided.

7.1.3 For PV modules having risk of heavy metals leakage, these shall be classified prior to collection,

transportation and storage. This shall be conducted in a manner that ensures environmental pollution is

7.1.4 PV modules shall avoid secondary pollution influencing the recycling, such as oil pollution and

7.1.5 Sort waste PV modules according to the size and shape of waste PV modules before transportation

7.2.1 Waste PV modules shall be prohibited from being mixed with domestic garbage or industrial

7.2.2 Collected waste PV modules shall be stored according to the requirements of 7.4.

7.2.3 Collector shall deliver collected waste PV modules to qualified organizations for disassembly and

7.2.4 Protection measures shall be set up to avoid harming of modules and broken components falling

in the process of collection, such as broken glass, interlayer, termination, cable and solar cell, which can

7.3.1 The waste PV module should be recorded in the statistical information management system

7.3.2 In the process of transportation, unauthorized disassembly and treatment to waste PV modules

7.3.3 Protective measures shall be set up to avoid harming of modules and broken components falling

in the process of transportation, such as broken glass, interlayer, termination, cable and solar cell, which

7.3.4 Secondary pollution to waste PV modules shall be prevented in the process of transportation,

especially oil pollution and saline-alkali corrosion. Transportation organization should connect with a

recycling organization to ensure whether the recycling process requires avoiding secondary damage to

7.4.1 Requirements for the storage site of waste PV modules can be found in the relevant regulations,

7.4.2 All kinds of waste PV modules shall be classified prior to storage and all module types (see 5.1)

7.4.3 It shall be guaranteed that pollutants, such as broken glass, solar cell, termination and cable,

7.4.4 Secondary pollution, especially oil pollution and saline-alkali corrosion, should be prevented

during storage. Storage organization should connect with a recycling organization to confirm whether

the recycling process requires avoiding secondary damage to PV modules or other requirements.

8.1.1 It shall be strictly prohibited to discard any part of waste PV modules, which are taken out in

8.1.2 Materials and all the taken-out parts shall be stored in appropriate classified containers and be

marked clearly. Hazardous material should be classified correctly and stored carefully avoiding dangers

8.2.1 The gas containing dust, which is produced in the process of sorting and crushing, shall be dealt

with by the waste gas processing system. After treatment, waste gas should conform with the relevant

8.2.2 After the treatment of scrap wire and cable, all metals, plastic and rubber shall be recycled.

8.2.4 Waste water, produced in the process of waste termination cleaning, should be dealt with by the

waste water treatment system, and should be recycled. After treatment, waste water should conform

8.3.1 The frame should be mechanically disassembled before other recycling processing.

8.3.2 Mechanical disassembly shall be performed in a manner that prevents disassembled metal

8.3.3 After disassembly, the metal components that can be directly recycled should be subjected to

8.3.4 After disassembly, the metal components that cannot be directly recycled shall be subjected to

other environmentally friendly processes, e. g. melting, extraction, etc., and the processes shall guarantee

8.4.1 Hot-melt methods or chemical techniques can be used to decompose interlayer while recycling

PV laminate. Then the glass or organic back sheet should be peeled from the PV laminate. The integrity of

8.4.2 A mechanical or chemical method can be used to separate the welding strip and the solar cell.

8.4.3 A mechanical method can be used to break the left PV laminate parts into small pieces. A dust

8.4.4 Multi-layer glass PV modules should be disassembled to glasses and laminated solar PV glass,

8.4.5 The disassembly of photovoltaic insulating glass units should take the desiccant collection

into consideration, avoiding desiccant pollution to environment. If the heat method is adopted, the

disassembly should also consider poisonous gases during the high temperature processing during which

the following should not be adopted: too high temperature or poisonous gases treatment.

9.1.1 When a hot-melt method and other heating methods are used to treat waste PV modules or parts

of PV modules, waste gas treatment facilities shall be employed and the emissions of pollutants should

9.1.2 When an incinerating method is used to treat waste PV modules or parts of them, the emissions

9.1.3 Waste water and liquid produced in the process of treatment shall be disposed, and the emission

9.2.1 In the treatment process of thermal decomposition of glass, waste gas treatment system shall be

employed to control the amount of impurity in waste gas. Any contaminants/pollutants produced shou