With the annual growth of photovoltaic installations, an unavoidable problem has emerged: how to handle the large number of retired photovoltaic panels? These photovoltaic modules are not simply "waste glass," but rather composites made of tempered glass, EVA film, silicon wafers, backsheets, aluminum frames, and other materials. Their structure is stable and firmly bonded, making direct crushing inefficient and resulting in numerous impurities.

Against this backdrop, photovoltaic panel tunnel furnace recycling lines have gradually become a relatively mature processing solution in the industry. Simply put, the core function of the tunnel furnace is not "incineration," but rather, through continuous heating at a controlled temperature, the EVA film undergoes thermal decomposition or softening, thereby achieving effective separation between the glass and the solar cells and backsheet.

Compared to traditional manual dismantling or extensive crushing, the tunnel furnace offers advantages in continuity and stability. Materials enter the furnace from the feed end and slowly pass through a pre-set temperature zone, requiring neither frequent start-ups nor extensive manual operation. This processing method is better suited to the current trend of "mass production and large-scale" photovoltaic panel recycling.

From a recycling perspective, photovoltaic panels processed in tunnel furnaces exhibit higher glass integrity and less surface residue, making them more valuable for subsequent reprocessing or direct entry into building materials and recycled glass industries. Simultaneously, the solar cells and metal components are more readily processed in subsequent sorting stages, improving the overall recycling rate.

In short, tunnel furnaces are not designed to "burn away materials," but rather to dismantle the structure more gently and controllably. This is why an increasing number of photovoltaic recycling projects incorporate tunnel furnaces as a key piece of equipment during the initial design phase.