Solar PV Module End-of-Life Dispose-off and Its Environmental Impact in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia- A study

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia (KSA) recognizes the importance of diversified energy mix with the penetration of renewable energy to its long-term economic prosperity. On January 9, 2019, Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) Saudi Arabia has revised the targets of its Vision 2030 to deploy approximately 58.7 GW of RE project with maximum 40 GW of solar PV. In order to successfully implement the KSA vision 2030 RE targets and attain its benefits, formulation of solar PV end-of-life disposal/recycling policy instruments in combination of economic optimization and technology localization (TL) factors must be taken into account to implement KSA vision 2030 in its true spirit. After the successful implementation of KSA Vision 2030 especially solar PV 40 GW targets, the most important issue will be their disposal at the end-of-life. The forthcoming challenge for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the disposal of the installed solar PV panels. It will detonate with its full force in one to two decades and ruin the environment because a huge amount (approximately 2,450,000 tons) of wastage will be produced. Silicon-based photovoltaic cells contain a certain amount of toxic substances, which will create widespread toxic chemical pollution that would become a big environmental and health issue for the Kingdom of Saud Arabia. The objective of this proposal is to do early assessment of solar PV end-of-life disposal and environmental issues this study will help the KSA environmental, industrial and health regulatory authorities in developing their policy for proper solar PV waste management system. Moreover, it will also help the regulatory authorities to opt it and encourage them for technology development and establish environment friendly local industry for solar PV recycling and dispose-off and ultimately make renewable energy specifically solar photovoltaic green source of energy as compared to conventional electric power generation system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia