NSG Group successfully validates the "horizontal recycling" technology for photovoltaic cover glass, aiding the photovoltaic industry in achieving a closed-loop cycle

2026-04-27 11:20:58

Japan's photovoltaic industry has undergone over a decade of large-scale adoption, with the first batch of solar panels now gradually entering the decommissioning phase. Industry forecasts widely predict a surge in discarded photovoltaic panels after 2030. Achieving efficient material separation of decommissioned components and establishing a closed-loop recycling system have become urgent societal challenges. Recently, NSG Group announced the successful completion of a horizontal recycling demonstration experiment for photovoltaic cover glass, enabling the recovery of cover glass from decommissioned panels and its reprocessing into float glass, paving a new pathway for the resource utilization of photovoltaic waste.

Due to its special composition design (meeting the performance enhancement requirements of photovoltaic modules) and high-strength adhesive (ensuring long-term durability), photovoltaic cover glass is extremely difficult to recycle effectively with traditional methods. In this experiment, NSG Group collaborated with Taisan Corporation, leveraging the latter's advanced low-temperature thermal decomposition recycling technology for photovoltaic panels, to successfully separate and extract pure cover glass from decommissioned photovoltaic modules at a demonstration facility in Minami-Poro, Hokkaido.

In February this year, NSG Group conducted mass production trials at the float furnace in its Chiba factory in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture, incorporating recycled photovoltaic cover glass as a raw material into the production formula. The team comprehensively evaluated the quality of recycled glass products and the impact of recycled materials on production processes and equipment operation, ultimately verifying that under standard production conditions, recycled photovoltaic cover glass can be stably used in float glass manufacturing, officially confirming the feasibility of horizontal recycling technology for photovoltaic cover glass.

As the supplier of photovoltaic cover glass used in this experiment, Tokushan Corporation possesses Japan's leading technology for separating and extracting waste photovoltaic modules, enabling efficient removal and recycling of cover glass. Through technical collaboration, NSG Group leverages this technology to optimize raw material quality, ensuring that recycled float glass meets high-quality standards, thereby achieving technological complementarity and industrial synergy.

The implementation of the recycling technology and process achieved in this breakthrough will significantly enhance the utilization rate of waste photovoltaic cover plate glass, effectively promoting the development of a circular economy. On one hand, it can reduce the extraction of natural mineral resources such as silica sand and soda ash, lowering resource dependency. On the other hand, increasing the proportion of recycled glass in the mix can optimize furnace combustion efficiency, ultimately achieving carbon dioxide emission reductions across the entire float glass production process and supporting low-carbon manufacturing.

This achievement aligns closely with the "Glass Industry Carbon Neutrality by 2050 Vision 2025" released by the Japanese flat glass Industry Association last December, responding to the industry's goal of establishing a closed-loop recycling system for waste glass. NSG Group's technical validation not only addresses the challenge of photovoltaic waste recycling but also promotes a bidirectional low-carbon transformation between the photovoltaic and glass industries, providing practical solutions for sustainable development.