Sieve sorting device and sorting method

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a sieve sorting device capable of accurately sorting and recovering valuable materials from a used module. [Solution] Provided is a sieve sorting device that sieves and sorts residues remaining in a used solar cell module in a solar cell module recycling system. The sieve sorting device comprises: a sorting plate having a plurality of plates disposed such that the height thereof decreases in a stepwise manner in the direction of travel of the residues; and a recovery unit that recovers impurities which have fallen from gaps between the plates. In the sorting plate, slit bars extending parallel to the direction of travel of the residues are formed in the surfaces of the plurality of plates positioned on the upstream side in the direction of travel of the residues. When the plates adjacent to each other across the gap are observed from the side, the downstream end of the slit bar formed in the plate positioned on the upstream side of the gap and the upstream end of the slit bar formed in the plate positioned on the downstream side of the gap vertically overlap each other.

Description

Screening and sorting apparatus, sorting method

[0001] The present invention relates to a screening and sorting apparatus that screens and sorts residues remaining in used solar cell modules in a solar cell module recycling system, and to a sorting method using the screening and sorting apparatus.

[0002] Toward the realization of a low-carbon society, the acceleration of CO ２ emission reduction is about to progress through the utilization of renewable energy including photovoltaic power generation. While the introduction of photovoltaic power generation has advanced significantly, issues related to recycling in the disposal of solar cell modules have been pointed out.

[0003] The structure of a general solar cell module is composed of three layers: a plate glass on the surface, a sealing resin layer on the inner side, and a back sheet on the back surface. Ribbon wires connecting cells are wired in the sealing resin layer. The sealing resin is required to have transparency, flexibility, adhesiveness, tensile strength, and weather resistance, and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (hereinafter abbreviated as "EVA") is generally used, which plays a role of bonding the plate glass, cells, and back sheet by heating and pressing.

[0004] A technique for recycling solar cell modules has been proposed, in which this solar cell module is heated in an oxidizing atmosphere by an electric furnace or the like to thermally decompose EVA, thereby removing the sealing material and separating the cell portion and the glass substrate (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0005] When recycling solar cell modules, used solar cell modules are carried into a recycling plant, transferred to a removal zone for removing frames and terminal boxes, and then the frames and terminal boxes are removed by a frame removing device (removal step).

[0006] The used solar cell module from which the frame and terminal box have been removed is subjected to pyrolysis treatment in a pyrolysis furnace, whereby the sealing resin is melted and changed into a pyrolyzed solar cell module in which plate glass, cells, and ribbon wires are dispersed (pyrolysis step).

[0007] Subsequently, the glass plates are recovered from the pyrolysis-treated solar cell modules (glass recovery process), and the remaining cells and ribbon wires are sorted and recycled as valuable materials (sorting process). Of these, the ribbon wires are recovered using a sieve sorting device.

[0008] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-152623

[0009] Figure 9(a) is a photograph of a known sieve sorting device 102 viewed from above, and Figure 9(b) is a schematic diagram showing a cross-section viewed from the side. As shown in Figures 9(a) and (b), the sieve sorting device 102 comprises a sorting plate 104 on which a ribbon wire 103 travels, and a transport unit 106 that collects other contaminants such as cells 105 and transports them to the next process. The ribbon wire 103 normally travels on the sorting plate 104 with its longitudinal direction approximately coinciding with the direction of travel.

[0010] Here, the sorting plate 104 is composed of a first plate 104a, a second plate 104b, and a third plate 104c, which are lower in height in the direction of travel, and a rectangular gap 107 is formed between each plate in plan view to allow impurities to fall. As a result, when the ribbon wire 103 changes direction due to the vibration of the sieving device 102, and its longitudinal direction becomes approximately perpendicular to the direction of travel, the ribbon wire 103 may fall into the gap 107, resulting in the problem that the sieving device 102 cannot adequately recover the ribbon wire 103.

[0011] Furthermore, in order to solve these problems, the first plate 104a is formed with slit bars 108 extending parallel to the direction of travel, and it is planned that the direction of travel of the ribbon wire 103 will be adjusted by the slit bars 108. However, if the spacing between the slit bars 108 is narrow, the ribbon wire 103 will not fit between the slit bars 108, and the slit bars 108 will not be able to adequately adjust the direction of travel of the ribbon wire 103.

[0012] The object of the present invention is to provide a sieving device and a sorting method that can accurately separate and recover valuable materials from used modules.

[0013] The sieving device of the present invention is a sieving device for sieving residues remaining on used solar modules in a solar module recycling system, comprising: a sorting plate having a plurality of plates arranged so as to decrease in height in stages toward the direction of travel of the residue; and a collection unit for collecting foreign matter that falls through the gaps between the plates, wherein, on the sorting plate, slit bars extending parallel to the direction of travel of the residue are formed on the surfaces of the plurality of plates located upstream of the direction of travel of the residue, and when adjacent plates separated by the gap are observed from the side, the downstream end of the slit bar formed on the plate located upstream of the gap and the upstream end of the slit bar formed on the plate located downstream of the gap overlap vertically.

[0014] This allows for the accurate separation and recovery of valuable materials from used modules.

[0015] Furthermore, the sieving device of the present invention is characterized in that the overlapping length of the slit bars is 1 cm or more and 5 cm or less.

[0016] This prevents the ribbon wire from falling through the gap between the plates, allowing for accurate retrieval of the ribbon wire.

[0017] Furthermore, according to the sieving device of the present invention, the slit bars are arranged on the plate at intervals of 1 cm to 7 cm.

[0018] This prevents situations where the ribbon wire does not fit between the slit bars, and allows for adjustment of the ribbon wire's direction of travel with ample margin.

[0019] The sorting method of the present invention is characterized by using the solar cell module recycling system, which in addition to the sieve sorting device described above, is further equipped with an air sorting device and an air table, and includes: an air sorting step in which the air sorting device uses wind power to sort the residue into heavy products and light products; a sieve sorting step in which the sieve sorting device recovers ribbon wire from the heavy products and transports glass fragments and cell fragments to the next step; and an air table sorting step in which the air table uses wind power and vibration to further sort fine particles from the glass fragments and cell fragments.

[0020] In this way, by going through the wind separation process, the sieve separation process, and the air table separation process, valuable materials can be accurately separated and recovered from used modules.

[0021] Furthermore, the sorting method of the present invention further includes a ribbon wire removal step in which ribbon wires exceeding a predetermined length are removed from the residue using a mesh conveyor before the wind sorting step, and the mesh conveyor is characterized in that a mesh-like grid or punch holes are formed therein.

[0022] In this way, by providing a ribbon wire removal process before the air separation process and removing ribbon wires exceeding a predetermined length in advance, it is possible to prevent the ribbon wires from becoming entangled inside the air separator when the residue is fed into the air separator.

[0023] Furthermore, according to the sorting method of the present invention, the length of the ribbon wire is characterized by being 10 mm or more and 300 mm or less. By removing ribbon wires exceeding a predetermined length in advance, it is possible to prevent a decrease in sorting accuracy and clogging during the sorting process.

[0024] Furthermore, according to the sorting method of the present invention, the mesh size formed by the grid is characterized in that the length in the longitudinal direction is 5 mm or more and 30 mm or less, and the length in the short direction is 5 mm or more and 30 mm or less. In other words, by providing a grid with such mesh size on the conveyor belt of a mesh conveyor, ribbon wires exceeding a predetermined length can be removed in advance.

[0025] Furthermore, according to the sorting method of the present invention, the diameter of the punch hole is characterized by being 5 mm or more and 20 mm or less. That is, by providing punch holes of such diameter on the conveyor belt of a mesh conveyor, ribbon wires exceeding a predetermined length can be removed in advance.

[0026] According to the present invention, a sieving device and sorting method can be provided that can accurately separate and recover valuable materials from used modules.

[0027] This is a schematic diagram showing a solar cell module according to the first embodiment. This is a flowchart showing the flow of a sorting method using the solar cell module recycling system according to the first embodiment. This is a flowchart showing the flow of the sorting process according to the first embodiment. This is a schematic diagram showing a sieve sorting device according to the first embodiment. This is a flowchart showing the flow of the sorting process according to the second embodiment. This is a schematic diagram showing a mesh conveyor according to the second embodiment. This is a schematic diagram showing the grid and punch holes formed on the conveyor belt of the mesh conveyor according to the second embodiment. This is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of components used in the ribbon wire removal process including the mesh conveyor according to the second embodiment. This is a schematic diagram showing a conventional sieve sorting device.

[0028] The invention according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1(a) is a schematic diagram of a solar cell module according to the first embodiment viewed from above, and Figure 1(b) is a schematic diagram showing a cross-section thereof.

[0029] As shown in Figure 1(a), the solar cell module 2 has a rectangular shape, with cells (solar cell elements) 4 arranged in a matrix, and a frame 5 forming the outer frame. The frame 5 is mainly made of aluminum. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 1(b), the solar cell module 2 is constructed by laminating three layers from top to bottom: a glass plate 6, a sealing resin layer 8, and a backsheet 10. A terminal box 9 for supplying the power generated by the cells 4 to a storage battery or the like (not shown) is attached to the bottom. EVA is generally used as the sealing resin, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is generally used for the backsheet 10.

[0030] The sealing resin layer 8 seals the cells 4 and the ribbon wires 14 that connect the cells 4 to each other, and the sealing resin, cells 4, and ribbon wires 14 are firmly bonded together as a single unit within the sealing resin layer 8. For this reason, it is extremely difficult to disassemble the solar cell module 2 in this state and separate the glass plate 6 (tempered glass), cells 4, and ribbon wires 14.

[0031] Furthermore, any solar cell module 2 that has a resin backsheet and is not of the double-sided glass type can be used as the solar cell module 2 applicable to the present invention. Specifically, examples include monocrystalline silicon solar cells, polycrystalline silicon solar cells, amorphous silicon solar cells, heterojunction solar cells, CIS solar cells, CIGS solar cells, CdTe solar cells, and the like.

[0032] Next, a sorting method using the solar cell module recycling system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in Figure 2.

[0033] First, when a used solar cell module 2 is brought into the solar cell module recycling system, the frame 5 and terminal box 9 are removed from the used solar cell module 2 by a frame removal device (not shown) (frame removal process S1).

[0034] Next, the used solar cell modules 2, from which the frame 5 and terminal box 9 have been removed, are placed on a tray (not shown) and then fed into a pyrolysis furnace (not shown) where they are subjected to pyrolysis while still on the tray (pyrolysis step S2).

[0035] When a used solar cell module 2 is placed in the pyrolysis furnace, the sealing resin of the sealing resin layer 8 is pyrolyzed, and acetic acid gas and polyethylene (PE) are discharged from the sealing resin. Next, the sealing resin melts, followed by the melting of the backsheet 10. Once the pyrolysis is complete, the tray will be left with only the residue of the glass plate 6, cells 4, and ribbon wire 14, in addition to the white pigment that was mixed in with the sealing resin. The pyrolysis furnace can pyrolyze three solar cell modules 2 at once.

[0036] After a period of natural cooling, the thermally decomposed solar cell modules are transferred to a glass recovery conveyor (not shown). The glass plates 6 are separated and recovered from the thermally decomposed solar cell modules, and the remaining residues are transported to a residue collection section (not shown) (glass plate recovery process S3).

[0037] Here, the glass plates 6 that make up the solar cell module 2 are not necessarily undamaged and may be cracked. If the glass plates 6 are cracked, the larger fragments are collected by the glass recovery conveyor, and the finely crushed glass fragments are transported to the residue collection section. Also, if the entire glass plate 6 is in pieces, all the glass fragments are transported to the residue collection section.

[0038] In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the glass plate 6 is recovered in the glass plate recovery step S3. However, a crushing step is provided before the thermal decomposition step S2 to finely crush the glass plate 6, and the glass plate recovery step S3 may be omitted.

[0039] The residue transported to the residue collection section is crushed to a predetermined size on a cooling conveyor (not shown), and then further sorted and collected through the following processes: air sorting, sieving, and air table sorting (sorting process S4).

[0040] <Air Separation Process S41> Air separation is performed by utilizing the difference in specific gravity of the substances contained in the material to be separated. There are various types of air separation devices that perform air separation, such as vertical air separators, refracting separators, horizontal flow separators, inertial force linear separators, and inertial force curve separators.

[0041] For example, when using a vertical wind separation device, by blowing an upward flow of air from below into a vertically elongated column, low-density particles with a low settling velocity move upward and are recovered as light products, while high-density particles with a high settling velocity move downward and are recovered as heavy products.

[0042] In this embodiment, in the plate glass recovery process (S3), the residue transported to the residue collection section is transported to an air separation device (not shown), for example, 40 to 60 m ３Sorting into heavy products and light products is performed using wind power of / min. The light products include cells 4, and the heavy products include crushed glass fragments and ribbon wires 14. That is, cells 4 are recovered in this step, and the crushed glass fragments and ribbon wires 14 are conveyed to a sieve sorting apparatus.

[0043] <Sieve Sorting Step S42> In a solar cell module recycling system, the sieve sorting apparatus is an apparatus that sifts and sorts residues remaining in used solar cell modules. Sieve sorting is performed by vibrating a sieve using a sieve sorting apparatus to drop small impurities contained in the residue.

[0044] The crushed glass fragments and ribbon wires 14, which are heavy products (residue) sorted by wind power in the wind power sorting step (S41), are further sorted by the sieve sorting apparatus. Fig. 4(a) is a photograph of the sieve sorting apparatus 12 viewed from above, and Fig. 4(b) is a schematic diagram showing a cross-section viewed from the side. As shown in Fig. 4(a) and (b), the sieve sorting apparatus 12 includes a sorting plate 18 on which the ribbon wires 14 travel, and a recovery unit 20 that recovers other impurities. The ribbon wires 14 normally travel on the sorting plate 18 in a state where the longitudinal direction substantially coincides with the traveling direction.

[0045] Here, the sorting plate 18 includes a first plate 18a, a second plate 18b, and a third plate 18c. Each plate is arranged such that the height decreases stepwise toward the traveling direction of the heavy products (residue). In addition, between respective plates, gaps 22 each having a rectangular shape in plan view for allowing impurities to drop are formed. The first plate 18a and the second plate 18b vibrate, and the third plate 18c does not vibrate.

[0046] Furthermore, in the sorting plate 18, slit bars 24 extending parallel to the traveling direction of heavy products (residues) are formed on the surfaces of the first plate 18a and the second plate 18b, which are located upstream in the traveling direction of the heavy products (residues). As shown in FIG. 4(a), adjacent slit bars 24 are arranged at predetermined intervals on the surfaces of the first plate 18a and the second plate 18b, respectively. The predetermined interval is preferably 1 cm or more and 7 cm or less, more preferably 3 cm or more and 7 cm or less, and still more preferably 5 cm or more and 6.5 cm or less. Here, the slit bars 24 formed on the surface of the first plate 18a and the slit bars 24 formed on the surface of the second plate 18b are alternately arranged in plan view so as not to interfere with each other.

[0047] Furthermore, when the first plate 18a and the second plate 18b adjacent to each other with the gap 22 interposed therebetween is observed from the side, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the downstream end of the slit bar 24 formed on the first plate 18a located upstream of the gap 22 and the upstream end of the slit bar 24 formed on the second plate 18b located downstream of the gap 22 overlap vertically. The overlapping length of the slit bars 24 is preferably 1 cm or more and 5 cm or less, more preferably 2 cm or more and 5 cm or less, and still more preferably 3 cm or more and 4 cm or less.

[0048] The heavy products carried into the sieve sorting apparatus 12 travel on the surface of the sorting plate 18 in the order of the first plate 18a, the second plate 18b, and the third plate 18c by vibrating the first plate 18a and the second plate 18b having the slit bars 24. At this time, the ribbon wires 14, which are string-shaped long objects, are adjusted such that the length direction thereof is substantially parallel to the traveling direction so as not to overturn between adjacent slit bars 24.

[0049] Then, the ribbon wires 14, which are long objects, travel on the surface of the sorting plate 18 across the gaps 22 and are recovered as valuable resources. On the other hand, crushed glass pieces and cell fragments 26, which are contaminants other than the ribbon wires 14, fall through the gaps 22, are recovered by the recovery unit 20, and are conveyed to an air table.

[0050] <Air Table Sorting Process S43> The air table is a dry gravity separation device that separates impurities to be sorted into high-density particles and low-density particles by blowing air from below and vibrating the deck. The air table is suitable for sorting fine particles less than 10 mm in size, and the greater the difference in specific gravity of the materials in the mixture, the finer the sorting can be.

[0051] The impurities transported to the air table are subjected to vibrations on the inclined deck while receiving airflow from below. As a result, high-density particles such as glass are not significantly affected by the wind and are moved upwards by the deck's vibrations and collected. On the other hand, low-density particles such as silicon cells are affected by the wind and move upwards within the powder layer of the mixture, while also moving downwards along the inclination of the deck and collected.

[0052] According to this first embodiment of the invention, valuable materials can be accurately separated and recovered from used modules. In particular, in the sieving device 12, by arranging the downstream end of the slit bar 24 formed on the first plate 18a and the upstream end of the slit bar 24 formed on the second plate 18b to overlap vertically when viewed from the side, it is possible to prevent the ribbon wire 14 from falling through the gap 22 and to accurately recover the ribbon wire 14.

[0053] Furthermore, by arranging adjacent slit bars 24 at intervals of 1 cm to 7 cm, it is possible to prevent the ribbon wire 14 from not fitting between the slit bars 24, and to adjust the direction of travel of the ribbon wire 14 with ample margin.

[0054] Furthermore, by setting the overlapping length of the slit bar 24 between 1 cm and 5 cm, the amount of room for the ribbon wire 14 to get caught in the gap 22 is reduced, making it possible to more effectively prevent the ribbon wire 14 from falling out of the gap 22.

[0055] Furthermore, while the first embodiment described above illustrates a case where the sorting plate 18 consists of three plates and the slit bars 24 are formed on the surfaces of the first plate 18a and the second plate 18b, the number of plates included in the sorting plate 18 is not necessarily limited to this and may be multiple plates. Also, it is sufficient if the slit bars 24 are formed on the surfaces of multiple plates on the upstream side of the sorting plate 18.

[0056] Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, the case in which the frame 5 and terminal box 9 are removed from the solar cell module 2 before the thermal decomposition treatment was illustrated, but the frame 5 and terminal box 9 may also be removed after the thermal decomposition treatment.

[0057] Next, a sorting method using the solar cell module recycling system according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this sorting method using the solar cell module recycling system according to the second embodiment, a ribbon wire removal step (S40) is added before the wind sorting step (S41) in the sorting step (S4) according to the first embodiment, in which ribbons are removed from the residue in advance using a mesh conveyor (see Figure 5). Therefore, a detailed explanation of the same components as in the first embodiment will be omitted, and only the different parts will be described in detail. Also, the same reference numerals will be used to describe components that are the same as in the first embodiment.

[0058] Figure 6(a) is a perspective view of the mesh conveyor 34 from above. As shown in Figure 6(a), the mesh conveyor 34 comprises a conveyor belt 34a, a side wall portion 34b, and a guide plate 34c.

[0059] As shown in Figure 6(b), the conveyor belt 34a is stretched endlessly between a pair of spaced-apart rollers 34d and is configured to travel in a circular motion as the rollers 34d are driven. In Figure 6(a), the rollers 34d rotate in a direction perpendicular to the rotation of the inclined conveyor 32 (from front to back and from back to front of the page).

[0060] Furthermore, the conveyor belt 34a is composed of a mesh-like grid 34f as shown in Figure 7(a). The grid 34f is rhombic in shape, and the size of the mesh 34g formed by the grid 34f is preferably 5 mm to 30 mm in length in the longitudinal direction and 5 mm to 30 mm in length in the short direction, more preferably 5 mm to 20 mm in length in the longitudinal direction and 5 mm to 20 mm in length in the short direction, and even more preferably 10 mm to 20 mm in length in the longitudinal direction and 10 mm to 20 mm in length in the short direction. Note that the size of the mesh 34g indicates the distance between the midpoints of the grid 34f that form the boundary between adjacent meshes 34g.

[0061] Furthermore, the conveyor belt 34a does not necessarily have to have a mesh-like grid 34f; for example, it may have punch holes 35a formed on it, as shown in Figure 7(b). In this case, the diameter of the punch holes 35a is 5 mm or more and 20 mm or less. More preferably, the diameter of the punch holes 35a is 7 mm or more and 15 mm or less, and even more preferably 10 mm or more and 15 mm or less. The punch holes 35a do not necessarily have to be circular; they may be elliptical. In this case, the above-mentioned diameter size applies to the major axis.

[0062] In this way, by providing a mesh-like grid 34f and punch holes 35a on the conveyor belt 34a, the ribbon wire 14 that does not pass through the grid 34f and punch holes 35a remains on the conveyor belt 34a, while the remaining residue passes through the grid 34f and punch holes 35a. This makes it possible to separate the ribbon wire 14 exceeding a predetermined length from the remaining residue. Here, the predetermined length of the ribbon wire 14 is preferably 300 mm or less, more preferably 200 mm or less, and even more preferably 150 mm or less. The length of the ribbon wire 14 is 10 mm or more.

[0063] The side wall portions 34b (see Figure 6(a)) form a pair, sandwiching both sides of the conveyor belt 34a, and prevent residue and ribbon wire 14 from scattering to areas other than the ribbon wire collection section 36 and the second inclined conveyor 32b.

[0064] The guide plate 34c is a flat plate that is inclined from the bottom of the conveyor belt 34a toward the ribbon wire recovery section 36, and moves the ribbon wire 14 remaining on the upper surface of the conveyor belt 34a to the ribbon wire recovery section 36.

[0065] Next, we will explain the progression of residue in the ribbon wire removal process (S40). Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the components used in the ribbon wire removal process (S40), including the mesh conveyor 34.

[0066] After thermal decomposition, the residue is transferred to the cooling conveyor 30 via the residue collection section. As shown in Figure 8, the residue is then transported by the first inclined conveyor 32a to the mesh conveyor 34, which is located above the cooling conveyor 30. On the mesh conveyor 34, the ribbon wire 14 remaining on the conveyor belt 34a (see Figure 6(a)) is collected by the guide plate 34c and taken to the ribbon wire recovery section 36.

[0067] Meanwhile, the residue that has passed through the grid 34f (see Figure 7(a)) formed on the conveyor belt 34a is further transported by the second inclined conveyor 32b to an air separation device located above the mesh conveyor 34. The subsequent flow is the same as described in the first embodiment (S41-43).

[0068] According to the invention of the second embodiment, by providing a ribbon wire removal step (S40) in the sorting step S4 in which the ribbon wire 14 is removed from the residue in advance, valuable materials can be more accurately separated and recovered from used modules.

[0069] Furthermore, the residue processed in the sorting process (S4) contains ribbon wires 14 of various lengths. Therefore, by providing a ribbon wire removal process (S40) before the air separation process S41 and removing ribbon wires 14 exceeding a predetermined length in advance, it is possible to prevent the ribbon wires 14 from becoming entangled inside the air separator when the residue is fed into the air separator.

[0070] Furthermore, ribbon wires 14 shorter than a predetermined length are sorted again by the sieving device, thus preventing a decrease in sorting accuracy and clogging in the sorting process (S4).

[0071] 2 Solar cell module 4 Cell 5 Frame 6 Glass plate 8 Sealing resin layer 9 Terminal box 10 Backsheet 12 Sieve sorting device 14 Ribbon wire 18 Sorting plate 18a First plate 18b Second plate 18c Third plate 20 Recovery section 22 Gap 24 Slit bar 26 Fragments 30 Cooling conveyor 32 Inclined conveyor 32a First inclined conveyor 32b Second inclined conveyor 34 Mesh conveyor 34a Conveyor belt 34b Side wall 34c Guide plate 34d Roller 34f Grid 34g Mesh 35a Punch hole 36 Ribbon wire recovery section 102 Sieve sorting device 103 Ribbon wire 104 Sorting plate 105 Cell 104a First plate 104b Second plate 104c Third plate 106 Conveyor section 107 Gap 108 Slit bar

Claims

1. A sieving device for a solar cell module recycling system that screens for residues remaining on used solar cell modules, comprising: a sorting plate having a plurality of plates arranged so as to decrease in height in stages toward the direction of travel of the residues; and a collection unit for collecting foreign matter that falls through the gaps between the plates, wherein the sorting plate has slit bars formed on the surfaces of a plurality of plates located upstream of the direction of travel of the residues, and when adjacent plates separated by a gap are observed from the side, the downstream end of the slit bar formed on the plate located upstream of the gap and the upstream end of the slit bar formed on the plate located downstream of the gap overlap vertically.

2. The sieving apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the overlapping length of the slit bars is 1 cm or more and 5 cm or less.

3. The sieving apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the slit bars are arranged on the plate at intervals of 1 cm to 7 cm.

4. A sorting method using the solar cell module recycling system, further comprising a wind-powered sorting device and an air table in addition to the sieve sorting device described in claim 1, the sorting method comprising: a wind-powered sorting step in which the wind-powered sorting device sorts the residue into heavy products and light products using wind power; a sieve sorting step in which the sieve sorting device recovers ribbon wires from the heavy products and transports glass fragments and cell fragments to the next step; and an air table sorting step in which the air table sorts finer particles from the glass fragments and cell fragments using wind power and vibration.

5. The sorting method according to claim 4, further comprising a ribbon wire removal step of removing ribbon wires exceeding a predetermined length from the residue using a mesh conveyor before the wind sorting step, wherein the mesh conveyor has a mesh-like grid or punched holes formed therein.

6. The sorting method according to claim 5, characterized in that the length of the ribbon wire is 10 mm or more and 300 mm or less.

7. The sorting method according to claim 5, characterized in that the mesh size formed by the grid is 5 mm or more and 30 mm or less in the longitudinal direction and 5 mm or more and 30 mm or less in the transverse direction.

8. The sorting method according to claim 5, characterized in that the diameter of the punch hole is 5 mm or more and 20 mm or less.

Images