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Swinburne University of Technology has been awarded grants totalling AU$ 64 million from the Australian Research Council (ARC) to support the creation of two new Industrial Transformation Research Hubs. These hubs, established in collaboration with various universities and industry partners across Australia, aim to drive technology-driven research crucial to the nation’s key industries.
Photovoltaic Solar Panel Recycling and Sustainability ARC Research Hub
The Photovoltaic Solar Panel Recycling and Sustainability ARC Research Hub, led by the University of New South Wales, focuses on developing green technologies for recycling solar panels and enhancing materials repurposing. This includes creating new solar panel designs that are easy to recycle and can be adopted by industry, scaling up processes to transform Australia’s solar panel sector, and significantly reducing landfill waste from solar panels.
The hub’s work supports Australia’s National Net-Zero Plan and Waste Action Plan by developing new panel designs, supply chains, research and development capabilities, workforce training, job creation, and economic growth. Swinburne’s Professor M. Akbar Rhamdhani, from the Fluid and Process Dynamic (FPD) Research Group within the Department of Mechanical and Product Design Engineering, serves as the Deputy Director and Key Chief Instigator of the hub. His expertise in metallurgical science and engineering is crucial in developing scalable, efficient, and environmentally friendly recycling processes for solar panels.
Building on previous projects funded by the Australia Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), Professor Rhamdhani’s work involves using glass from solar panels as melt to absorb impurities from solar cell waste and metallurgical silicon. The project aims to add flux to the glass melt, perform the multi-stage treatment to remove impurities and recover valuable elements. The recovered silicon can be reused in solar panel production or the steel industry. Additionally, he is working on new designs for a pyrolysis reactor to delaminate and melt solar panels.
The hub will enable high throughput and the development of sustainable recycling routes for solar panels, training the next generation of researchers in processing urban resources like end-of-life solar panels, which will transform Australia’s solar panel recycling industry.
Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Infrastructure Net-Zero
The ARC Research Hub for Infrastructure Net Zero, led by Monash University, focuses on integrating digital technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to decarbonise large-scale infrastructure engineering and construction processes. The hub aims to overcome challenges like excessive carbon emissions and outdated practices that hinder the nation’s sustainability efforts.
Aligned with Australia’s 2030 Digital Economy Strategy, the hub employs infrastructure digital twins, low-carbon materials, eco-friendly structural designs, and advanced operation and maintenance methods to enhance the performance and profitability of the infrastructure industry. Swinburne’s involvement includes contributions from Professor Tracy Dong Ruan, Professor Pat Rajeev, and Professor Emad Gad from the Department of Mechanical and Product Design Engineering, Centre of Sustainable Infrastructure and Digital Construction (CSIDC), School of Engineering. These efforts support Australia’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and promote a data-driven sustainable industrial revolution.
Professor Pat Rajeev, Chair of the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering and Director of the Trimble Technology Lab at Swinburne, highlights the hub’s potential to transform Australia’s construction sector. The goal is to digitalise the infrastructure lifecycle for net-zero, addressing challenges like excessive carbon emissions and outdated practices that currently impede sustainability.
This initiative offers an excellent opportunity to advance sustainable construction and building practices, circularity in modular construction, AI-based supply chain optimisation, and intelligent monitoring technologies. Through these two hubs, Swinburne University of Technology is at the forefront of pioneering technological advancements that address pressing environmental challenges and drive sustainable industrial growth in Australia.
