en.Wedoany.com Reported - OnePlanet today unveiled details of its proprietary fully automated recycling process, which recovers copper, aluminum, and high-purity silicon bearing ore-grade silver from end-of-life solar modules. The process, named "Photovoltaic Recycling Integrated System and Machinery" (PRISM), has completed engineering testing and will be deployed at OnePlanet's facility in Florida in 2027.
PRISM is a redesign of the existing production line at OnePlanet's commercial demonstration facility in Green Cove Springs, Florida, which has processed end-of-life crystalline silicon modules for over two years. PRISM was developed over 15 months and is entirely mechanical, using no thermal or chemical separation steps.
In repeated staged testing with full equipment configuration, PRISM removes 99.5% of module glass at 99% glass purity before any crushing step. The recovered glass is clean and marketable, while the silicon- and silver-bearing cell material remains concentrated and is not diluted by mixed, crushed material streams. OnePlanet states that this performance is consistent across both monofacial and bifacial modules, whether the modules are intact or damaged by storms. Its proprietary downstream section then concentrates this material into a silicon stream with purity exceeding 95%, carrying approximately 1% silver, while producing a copper particle stream at 99% purity and an aluminum (6063) product at 99.9% purity.
OnePlanet CEO André Pujadas stated that 1% silver is not trace—it is a fairly high grade from a metallurgical perspective, richer than most mined ores. Combined with silicon exceeding 95% purity, it forms a single feedstock that feeds both metallurgical-grade silicon and silver refining within the same facility. Achieving this purity level in the silicon stream is a significant milestone in the company's progression into the metallurgical-grade market, while further diversifying the process to achieve 5N silver.
OnePlanet has secured a $14.5 million investment tax credit allocation under the U.S. Federal Qualifying Advanced Energy Project (48C) program to build its first industrial-scale facility, River City, which will house the first fully integrated PRISM production line. OnePlanet's next development project is a metallurgical-grade silicon (MGS) refining process that recovers the contained silver during the refining step, making silver a second end product, with a target date of 2030. Silicon exceeding 95% purity requires far less upgrading to meet MGS specifications than producing MGS from raw quartzite, significantly reducing the energy and emissions intensity of the refining step. Once the refinery is operational, PRISM's silicon output will be consumed internally, completing OnePlanet's transition from material recovery to the MGS and silver refining markets.
