On the morning of October 26, 2026, Zhao Liang, founder of Air Xia, and researcher Gai Yijun, together with Wang Jiajia, Director of the Public Welfare Department of the China Environmental Protection Foundation, visited Jinghuan Jiayuan’s silver extraction base in Deqing, Huzhou, to conduct a special study on the recycling of end-of-life photovoltaic modules. Zhang Hongjia, Chairman of Jinghuan Jiayuan, welcomed the delegation and held on-site discussions with them.

During the visit, Chairman Zhang Hongjia introduced Jinghuan Jiayuan’s technical exploration and observations of the domestic and international industry in the field of end-of-life photovoltaic module recycling. From green dismantling and silicon material cleaning to the purification of precious and rare metals, the company has established the key process chain of “module dismantling—material separation—high-value recycling.” Jinghuan Jiayuan has built China’s first 10,000-tonne-scale photovoltaic recycling production line in Fengyang, Anhui. Multiple recycled materials, including glass, aluminum, solder ribbons, and silicon, are now in mass production, giving the company the capacity for large-scale commercialization.

Drawing on a year of firsthand observations from its “Chasing the Sun Initiative,” Air Xia shared insights into the current state of end-of-life module recycling in the Yangtze River Delta, case studies of representative companies, and its reflections on policy advocacy. The two sides held in-depth discussions on topics including recycling sources, technical routes, market operations, and the implementation of standards and policies, identifying industry bottlenecks and replicable practices—

Recycling: “Unclear volumes of end-of-life modules and small workshops competing for supply” remain pressing on-the-ground challenges. Local governments urgently need to strengthen source control through renewable resource supervision platforms and platforms for reverse invoicing that integrate the “three flows.” Power plant operators should also be encouraged to rigorously review recycling companies’ qualifications during bidding, require public disclosure of information on end-of-life module processors, and conduct routine inspections. These measures can curb the operating space for small workshops at the source and bring order to the recycling market;

Technology: A coordinated approach combining physical dismantling, pyrolysis separation, and hydrometallurgical purification is key to achieving low energy consumption and high recovery rates;

Policy: There is an urgent need to accelerate the development of a photovoltaic module traceability system, strengthen the extension of power plant operators’ responsibility for end-of-life recycling, and promote the implementation of standards for recycled materials such as recycled silver, thereby addressing institutional bottlenecks around “who collects and who oversees” at the source;

Industry: By combining the efforts of “compliant enterprises + public-interest research + industry platforms,” the sector can move from “dismantling waste panels” to “producing new materials.”

This visit gathered firsthand information for subsequent research reports, case summaries, and policy recommendations. Photovoltaic recycling is not merely a last-resort solution at the end of a product’s life; it is the starting point of a circular economy for renewable energy. Let those who chase the sun move forward together, so that every end-of-life module can return to the light.