A scientometric review of trends in solar photovoltaic waste management research

Abstract

Abstract Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, are effective measures to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions related to the generation of power. However, the large exploitation of solar PV modules, leads to undesirable waste accumulation, impacting the environment. Solar PV waste management research is an emerging field which has received more attention recently, affected by the increase volume of solar PV disposal. However, only a few studies have reviewed the current trends in solar photovoltaic waste management. This study reviewed the emerging trends in solar photovoltaic waste management research from 1974 to 2019 using the scientometric review techniques. A total record of 4683 articles were retrieved from the Web of Science database on solar PV waste. The co-word, co-citation and co-author analysis of the retrieved articles were conducted to determine the emerging trends in the PV waste management research. The results revealed that, with a gradual growth in the PV waste management research, performance and efficiency of polymer solar cells have been the centre of recent research due to its light weight, flexibility, environmentally harmless materials and lower cost over the silicon based solar cells. However, it will be years before they are ready for commercialization for specific applications. Thus, the silicon-based modules are the most installed to date and will be coming to their end-of-life very soon. The results also show that, little attention was given to areas like recycling, recovery, policies and regulations on solar PV module waste management. Future research should focus on assessing the recycling potential and emissions from current solar PV modules and the easy remanufacture, recovery and reuse of future solar PV modules.