1. Raw material stage: green supply chain construction
Low carbon material substitution
Photovoltaic modules: Use perovskite cells (carbon footprint 50% lower than crystalline silicon), and use silver-free electrode technology to reduce reliance on precious metals
Structural parts: Recycled aluminum alloy light pole (recycling rate >95%), bio-based plastic replaces traditional petroleum-based shell
Case: LONGi launches the world’s first “zero-carbon photovoltaic panel” in 2024, achieving full-process carbon neutrality through green power production + carbon offsets
rare earth element cycle
Establishing an “urban mine” recycling network for key metals such as gallium and indium in LED light sources, China’s rare earth recycling rate target reaches 85% in 2025
2. Production and manufacturing stage: zero-waste process innovation
clean energy drive
The factory supplies 100% green electricity (such as Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory model), combined with distributed photovoltaic + energy storage systems
Data: Tongwei Co., Ltd.’s carbon emissions from photovoltaic module production will be reduced to 0.28kg in 2025 CO₂/W (1.2kg in 2020)
Waste closed-loop treatment
Waste slag from cutting silicon materials is used as raw materials for building materials, and the wastewater treatment and reuse rate is increased to more than 90%
Wacker Germany Chemie develops silane-based polysilicon technology to reduce byproduct silicon tetrachloride emissions
III. Operation and maintenance stage: low-carbon intelligent management
AI energy efficiency optimization
Huawei’s digital energy solution predicts light/people flow through AI, dynamically adjusts brightness, and reduces ineffective energy consumption by 30%
IoT remote diagnosis reduces carbon emissions from manual inspections by 80%
Long-life design
Solid-state battery (10-year life) + modular structure, only replaces faulty parts instead of the entire machine during maintenance
IV. Scrap recycling stage: full material regeneration system
Photovoltaic panel recycling
Mechanical method (glass/aluminum frame separation) + chemical method (silicon material purification) combined process, recycling value reaches $12/block in 2025
Battery gradient utilization
Retired lithium batteries are converted to household energy storage (remaining capacity 70%), and finally disassembled to recycle cobalt and lithium (Huayou Recycling Technology)
Policy mandatory constraints
The new EU regulations require that the recycling rate of photovoltaic modules be no less than 90% by 2030, and China’s “Extended Producer Responsibility System” 》Pilot
V. Business model innovation: Carbon asset value realization
Carbon footprint trading
A single solar street light reduces carbon emissions by about 2.5 tons over its entire life cycle, and CCER carbon sink projects can be developed (carbon price ￥150/ton in 2025)
Service-oriented transformation
“Streetlight as a Service” (LaaS) model: users pay according to the lighting effect, and the company assumes the responsibility for recycling (such as SunPower business case)
Existing challenges and breakthrough directions
Technical bottlenecks: lead leakage risk of perovskite components, and flexible photovoltaic recycling processes are not yet mature
Cost balance: Low-carbon materials increase initial costs by 15-20%, and costs need to be reduced through scale
Global collaboration: Recycling infrastructure is lacking in developing countries, and a multinational industry alliance needs to be established
Conclusion: In 2025, the solar street light industry has entered the “zero waste and low carbon” critical period, and it needs to use technological innovation as the engine, policies and regulations as the framework, and business models as the link to ultimately achieve a leap from “green products” to “green ecosystems”.
