When an Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) reaches the last stage of its life, it becomes a WEEE.
The WEEE, Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment, are governed by the European Directive 2012/19/EU or Legislative Decree 49/2014 which replaces the previous 2002/96/EU and 2003/108/EU.
In the WEEE category are included many components of the PV plant/system: inverters, batteries, electronic accessories, and the photovoltaic modules.
The last ones have a dedicated legislation that must be followed to dispose of WEEE generated by photovoltaic modules.
What says the regulation about photovoltaic modules
With the transposition of the European Directive 2002/96/EU, photovoltaic modules have become part of the scope of EEE (electrical and electronic equipment) and therefore managed at the end of life as WEEE.
For photovoltaic modules the standard provides that the manufacturer of the modules corresponds a quota for the recycling and disposal of photovoltaic modules to a consortium or WEEE collection center.
The manufacturer of the modules is defined as the one who first imports photovoltaic modules on Italian soil.
According to this definition, for the modules in the portfolio of BayWa r.e. Solar Systems, the following table shows the manufacturers and the consortium to refer to:
| Brand Modules | Producer for the purposes of WEE | Consortium |
|---|---|---|
| Hyundai | BayWa r.e. Solar Systems S.r.l. | ECOEM |
| JA Solar | BayWa r.e. Solar Systems S.r.l. | ECOEM |
| Longi Solar | BayWa r.e. Solar Systems S.r.l. | ECOEM |
| Meyer Burger | BayWa r.e. Solar Systems S.r.l. | ECOEM |
| REC | BayWa r.e. Solar Systems S.r.l. | ECOEM |
| SolarEdge | BayWa r.e. Solar Systems S.r.l. | RLG |
| Trina Solar | BayWa r.e. Solar Systems S.r.l. | ECOEM |
The installer can visit the website of the consortium, make a geolocation, and download a certificate that certifies the actual registration.
For the modules of which BayWa r.e. is the manufacturer, click on this link to do the geolocation, paying attention to indicate as a manufacturer code 415.