Marcos Belançon

Reuse of cover glass from end-of-life photovoltaic panels to produce glass-ceramics with innovative properties

Marcos Belançon has been researching cover glasses for photovoltaic applications. Due to the expansion of solar energy, there is an increasing demand for flat glass production worldwide, and new materials and processes are needed to improve the sustainability of the photovoltaic industry. This project explores this subject by developing and investigating new silicate glass-ceramics using glass from end-of-life solar panels as raw material. Samples of silicates with up to 80% recycled content were already prepared. He plan to dedicate an entire year to speed up the research in this subject. Specifically, we will investigate the crystallization process and use the levitation technique with laser heating to produce new glass ceramics that could contribute to the sustainability of the glass industry. The first approach will be to introduce UV absorbers, such as Cerium. One intriguing possibility to be evaluated is whether the proposed material can absorb UV light and convert it to low-energy photons more suitable for the silicon solar cell's sensitivity. Besides all the specifics of the research we are proposing, Brazil and France have a long history of scientific collaboration, and I have already spent two years of my career in France. Now, as a professor, he is one of the founding members of a laboratory dedicated to materials science at my home institution. Besides this individual research project, he wishes to help my team in Brazil cooperate with the CEMHTI on other projects and develop a strong partnership between the institutions involved.