Ambient Trends’ automated rapid testing technology for photovoltaic modules was selected among 2,500 entries from 67 countries as a finalist in the NITI Aayog Mission-LiFE competition. The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) is a public policy think-tank agency of the government of India which serves to advance the nation’s economy. AT found that due to the high complexity, cost, and available technologies to address the extreme variability found in decommissioned modules (of even the same model), current-day testing schema does not support reuse or repair markets at scale and there are substantial gaps in knowledge and technology which hinder this important component of the photovoltaic circular economy. AT’s technology serves to address the mounting issue of photovoltaic waste through rapid testing and characterization of end-of-life PV modules, applying novel techniques for determining optimal automatable repair and enabling intelligent utility-scale reutilization. Estimates suggest that reutilization could meet up to one-third of PV demand over the next twenty-five years, while AT’s system also enables a long-term custodianship model for solar industry lifecycle management. Approximately 80% of the world’s global e-waste goes unaccounted for and the costs associated with ‘cleanup’ of improper disposal of PV modules will ultimately impact utility customers and the public. Even with zero-cost material recovery, preliminary financial modeling reveals a 442-times advantage over state-of-the-art material recovery value.
