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Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) has identified the first target it will be going after with its new photovoltaic solar panel recycling technology: Silver.
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This article is disseminated in partnership with Lithium Universe. It is intended to inform investors and should not be taken as a recommendation or financial advice.
Silver is used as a key material in photovoltaic (PV) solar panels for the electrical contacts through which electricity flows. The average panel contains around 20 grams of silver, the company says, worth around $36 a panel.
The demand for silver makes it an obvious target; it’s projected to reach a record 680 million ounces in 2025. The metal’s price is up to US$34/oz this year.
The whole thing is a “counter-cyclical move,” LU7’s chairman, Iggy Tan, explained.
In a Watchlist interview with HotCopper this week, Mr Tan said LU7 was looking to do a lot of the work in the pipeline around lithium as lithium prices recover.
“While we wait for that recovery, we got offered this very exciting opportunity from Macquarie University,” he said. “One of the biggest problems is that in Australia, nearly a third of our households have solar panels and after 20 years, they’re going to end up in landfill. Only 15% actually get recycled.”
“To recycle [those panels] today, you have to crush it up, use high temperatures, and even toxic chemicals. This technology is microwave technology – you heat the solar panel and separate the EVA from the wafer.
“This lets you extract very valuable critical metals from the silicon wafer.”
LU7 has been up as much as +16.7% since acquiring these new recycling tech rights.
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