The impact of recycling policies on the photovoltaic Levelized Cost of the Electricity

Recently the EU commission has included the PV panels into the new Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive. This paper examines the impact of this decision on the Levelized Cost of photovoltaic energy for silicon solar cells based panels. It is found that panel recycling only slightly affects the Levelized Cost of Electricity and that, if processes of reusing the solar silicon are developed, recycling could even favourably affect the cost itself.