ERC Funds Jülich Recycling Technology For Solar Modules

Materials scientist Ian Marius Peters of Forschungszentrum Jülich has been awarded an ERC Proof of Concept Grant from the European Research Council. The grant, in the amount of 150,000 euros, will support the CYBEX project. The project aims to further develop a novel technology for recovering critical raw materials from end-of-life solar modules to the point of commercial viability.

Photovoltaic modules contain valuable metals such as silver. Although their concentration after processing is just as high-or in some cases even higher-than in natural ores, they are generally not recovered today: Conventional recycling processes are designed for large, centralized facilities and are hardly economically viable for smaller or more diverse waste streams.

This is where CYBEX (Critical Material Extraction from Low Concentration Sources) comes in. The project is developing an intelligent electrochemical process that selectively extracts metals from complex waste streams and recovers them in high purity. Unlike previous methods, the technology is designed to operate efficiently even in smaller, decentralized recycling facilities while requiring significantly less energy and fewer chemicals. The project is developing a prototype that will be tested on actual photovoltaic waste. At the same time, the researchers are investigating the economic feasibility of the technology and preparing for its transfer to industry.

CYBEX builds on the results of the ERC Consolidator Grants C2C-PV. In that project, the team was already able to demonstrate that metals can be selectively recovered from complex waste streams using electrochemical processes. With the Proof of Concept Grant, this basic research is now to be transformed into a practical recycling technology.

In the first funding round of 2026, the European Research Council is awarding a total of 182 Proof of Concept Grants with a total budget of 27.3 million euros. The funding is intended exclusively for researchers who have already secured an ERC grant. It supports them in unlocking the innovation and application potential of their research and paving the way from scientific findings to new technologies, products, or services.

Press release of the European Research Council