Magdeburg 09.03.2023 – SOLAR MATERIALS, a cleantech startup from Magdeburg specializing in solar module recycling, today announced the successful closing of its current EUR 2.5 million funding round. With its innovative recycling technology, SOLAR MATERIALS closes the raw material loop in the solar industry.

The financing round is led by existing investor bmp Ventures, which invests with IBG RKF III GmbH & Co. KG. The new investors include impact VCs Katapult and FirstImagine! With the funding, SOLAR MATERIALS builds its first automated recycling plant with a capacity of approximately 3,000 tons per year, which will start operations this year. Photovoltaics (PV) is one of the pillars of the energy transition and thus an indispensable part of the future energy mix. With its early promotion of solar energy around the turn of the millennium, Germany is one of the pioneers of the global PV boom. The pioneering role in PV expansion is now being followed by the first wave of solar modules to be recycled. In Germany alone, the amount of solar modules to be recycled is estimated to grow to well over 100,000 tons or 5 million modules per year by the end of the decade. Globally, 1 million tons or 50 million end-of-life solar modules are already expected by 2030. With its patented recycling technology, SOLAR MATERIALS offers an economical and at the same time ecological solution.

Recycling of solar modules – A yet unsolved problem

Solar modules consist of a composite of a plastic back, solar cells and cover glass, which are welded together by a plastic film (so-called EVA film) and stabilized by an aluminum frame. The modules are connected to the grid through a junction box on the back of the modules. Separating the laminate is a technical challenge. Today’s recycling processes are based on the familiar recycling approach of shredding and sorting. While this allows glass and aluminum to be recovered, the functional materials of the solar cells silicon and silver are lost. SOLAR MATERIALS has developed its own process to recover the previously lost raw materials silicon and silver.

For our 2022 cohort, we evaluated more than 2,000 impressive climate tech companies from across the globe and we selected the SOLAR MATERIALS team as 1 of just 23 in our final cohort. We expect (and encourage) a further accelerated rollout of PV modules worldwide, but we believe the limitations of PV module recycling is a rapidly growing issue for solar asset owners. The SOLAR MATERIALS solution can be game-changing in solving circularity of raw materials in the solar energy space. A clear match with our investment criteria but also speaking to the core of our vision of building a thriving world for all.

Carl Strøm Walton, Investment Manager at Katapult VC, a leading Norwegian climate tech-focused fund and accelerator

Ecologically and economically sustainable

The value-added recycling is made technically possible by a combination of thermo-mechanical process steps and unique materials and process know-how. “Within the last year, we have scaled our technology to module size and demonstrated and tested the individual process steps with our inhouse developed machines,” explains technical managing director and co-founder Jan Bargel. “The quality of the raw materials we recover has already been confirmed by external laboratories and potential customers, which has also enabled us to prove the economic viability of our process,” Fridolin Franke, commercial managing director and also co-founder, adds. A look at the overall balance sheet shows that cost-effectiveness and ecology are not mutually exclusive. Not only is the process economically sustainable, but the recycled raw materials require about 80% less energy than their primary production.

The team has made excellent progress since our initial Seed investment, providing tech and business proof. We are therefore very pleased to have further investors on board and to increase our investment in SOLAR MATERIALS to support the company in entering the market with their first automated solar recycling line in Saxony-Anhalt.

David Stuck, Principal at bmp Ventures

The foundation of SOLAR MATERIALS GmbH is the result of several years of development. The idea generator and co-founder is Dr. Jan-Philipp Mai, whose ventures are fully dedicated to silicon as a resource. “Starting in September, we will put our automated recycling line with a capacity of 3,000 tons per year into operation at our site in Magdeburg. For this purpose, we are currently in the process of being certified as a specialist waste management company, in order to be able to meet not only the ecological and economic, but also all the legal requirements of our customers,” says Dr. Jan- Philipp Mai, describing the company’s next steps.

With the financing round now completed, the company considers itself well equipped to start the commercial recycling of solar modules before the end of this year.